899 L or For The Dedicated

I miss the way she
blamed all the right
things on me and
swallowed the wrong ones
without wincing

that top part is
a cut piece of
an abandoned poem
I put it away
because pity is a
wet dog in the rain
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—-
—-
—-
—-

here’s another poem about
poems and alcohol
maybe it’ll help
if you’re where I’m at
when I’m writing these

(dear
I got a drink for each hour
it’s five so I’m on five
- or six
it’s easy to lose count)

I write about alcohol
cigarettes
and women
not love
or the mountains
or what it feels like
to wake and breathe right

this is where I’m at
and bless you
if you’ve stomached
my poems for this long
I don’t hate them
I just write for a muse
that don’t love me no more
so they sound the same
and feel the same
-that’s some good country talk
fuck it, huh?

if you like it
buy my book

make me a saint
and baptize me
I’ll believe
and won’t argue