John Grochalski

poem to the asshole
who called me paranoid
on the evening bus

look
i got haikus
dancing on my tongue tonight
motherfucker

&

the key to life
jammed between my fingers
like a switchblade

anytime
you wanna
try.

 

another fucking artist

he jumps up from his chair
like something bit him in the ass

and i watch him pacing
pulling on what’s left of his hair

talking to himself

i know the signs
and think, shit,

now, i’m going to have to call the goddamned cops

but just as abruptly
he stops the act
and sits back down

starts humming to himself

as he pulls markers and pens
from a plastic bag

grabs scraps of torn paper

and begins drawing sunsets
and rainbows and hearts

and all of the other
fucked up shit

rattling around
inside his head.

 

John Grochalski is the author of five poetry collections, three novels, and the upcoming novella Wolves of Berlin Headline Amateur Night at the Flute and Fiddle Pub. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.