hangover – Cajun Mutt Press

Kitchen Hand

The weekend shift would start at 10am,
the previous night’s mishaps bleeding
slowly from my pores, consuming
both my flesh and the zinc covered
counters that shone smuggly
amongst the unsharpened knives
and the heavy heated conjecture;
always the root of our day’s routine.

The dash of crushed, spilt
ingredients upon floor tiles,
the lights that reflected
from the flames that crossed my wrists,
the nerve endings now too severed to care.
the haze of fatigue across my eyes
like the clingfilm smothering these leftovers,
which we served up as the fruits of our toil.

A splash of blood diluted by dishwater
clashes like car oil in back street puddles.
Once again you await the orders,
seemingly superimposed onto
this chaos, your calm a reflective
flame that allowed me a glimpse
of respite, a measure of grace
that justified the salt stains and meat scraps
smothered across my payslip.

Jonathan Butcher has had poems appear in various print and online publications including, The Morning Star, Mad Swirl, Drunk Monkeys, The Abyss, Cajun Mutt Press and others. His fourth chapbook, ‘Turpentine’ was published by Alien Buddha Press. He is also the editor of online poetry journal Fixator Press. He also has a poem in Night Owl Narrative No.1:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQVN1WPW

Undercover

The shortening of this free time,
a tranquil hour, as chaos and celebration
continues behind closed doors and bars,
allowing the patter of rat’s feet to echo
like avalanches.

That first sip always tastes bitter now,
my taste buds filed down by decades
of misplacement. A singular crack
in the glass is enough now to bring
the evening to a close.

The recovery over four days lets
those clouds slowly break but without
rain; just a gradual reminder that our
stride has shortened, our voices
now grate the most stable of nerves.

It all creeps up too early, like fungus
across damp carpets and manages
to break our delicate swagger that never
holds more than its own body weight,
it’s center never as soft as we like to portray.

Jonathan Butcher has been writing poetry for around twelve years. He has had work appear in various print and online publications including: The Morning Star, Popshot, The Rye Whiskey Review, Mad Swirl, Drunk Monkeys and others. His third chapbook Corroded Gardens was published by Fixator Press.

Tag: hangover

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 02/16/24

Kitchen Hand

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/16/21