rat – Cajun Mutt Press

Brainwash

Rain splashes
on the windows
of my mind

carries accumulated
thought-grime

into gutters

gushes along
through midnight
soul sewers

memory-rats hop
onto concrete ledges
to escape the torrent

homeless ideas
hang from slippery
ladders

until it all empties
from a drainpipe

into the wild

blank

wordless sea

Scott Waters lives in Oakland, California with his wife and son. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Scott has published previously in Cajun Mutt Press, Third Wednesday, Main Street Rag, Better Than Starbucks, The Pacific Review, A New Ulster, and many other journals. Scott’s first chapbook was published by Selcouth Station, and his poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Big Science

I trudge to the interstate and follow
it to the place that loved me once.
A day-burned man asks me to move
into his shadow. “I’m just trying to feed
my three fears dinner since I lost
my job at the cloud factory.” Recession
is a four-letter word. No one knows
the night’s middle name, but we all
hit it up for something to do. He’ll never
forgive me for getting so fat. Maybe
it’s not easy being you, but I’d sure
like to try. Everyone along the road cheers
for the rat that found all that pizza.
At least somebody made good. Graffiti
is another name for love. Take me
to the kitchen and let me fry you up
something. I’ll just clear the bullets
out of the way so I can shred some
cheese. Jesus would never be caught
dead in your church. What will you give
winter for its birthday? Knock out
a wall so you have room for a writing
desk. When the ceiling comes down,
start a new chapter. Pencils made
of licorice. A joke no one else can hear.
It’s so expensive to pay for everyone
else’s lifestyle. All of this used to be
protoplasm. And will be again. When I
was a boy, I used to hunt these hills.
Never got a damned thing. Now, I hit
KFC after work. Progress. That’s just
what Big Science wants you to think.

Raised on a rice and catfish farm in eastern Arkansas, CL Bledsoe is the author of more than thirty books, including the poetry collections Riceland, The Bottle Episode, and his newest, Having a Baby to Save a Marriage, as well as his latest novels Goodbye, Mr. Lonely and The Saviors. Bledsoe lives in northern Virginia with his daughter.

Tag: rat

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 07/05/24

Brainwash

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 07/07/23