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Writings on the Shithouse Wall
Duology: Good Time Gals Bad Time Boys
Haikus: 366

Ecuadorian Dream House

Some people want a house in the suburbs
down the culdesac next to the place
where they lost their virginity
behind the gas station
where their older brother bought them booze

Some people want a trailer in the desert
with low humidity

I want a marble palace in the mountains of Ecuador
With my own private art museum
And a family so proud they open a gift shop

Haikus From the Coal Region

#1
Dad slugs snowy rocks
Cold anger breaking the ice
“Who wants some ice cream?”

#2
Uncle John is gone
They marched him into the woods
Another secret kept

#3
Still waters run deep
Especially for Timmy
Strip mines need good fences

#4
Ten to life up north
A catered room with a view
Statutory rape

#5
An old mining town
Filled with pin oaks and brown deer
Burning from below

#6
Scores of old nanas
Stuffing cabbage in church halls
Food for the needy

#7
A fun fair with rides
With food, fun and families
That carnie is drunk

#8
Fresh maple syrup
Tapped into old groves of trees
Corn syrup’s cheaper

#9
Pennsylvania
Two cities with hicks between
Still not Ohio

#10
Steam trains to nowhere
Winding through old brick houses
All factories gone

Landmark Erosion

What’s a Parthenon to a Persian rapist?
Or an Pantheon to a marauding papist?
A sacred site constructed in god’s will
A once timeless tomb now reclaimed landfill.
Historical heroes vying for timeless vestige
All knowing their legacy is a pointless investment.
Beneath their crowns the inkling rides
Reflected in their gilt mirrored tides
That at the end of their succession
They’re little more than a pub quiz question.

The old Khmer empires did it right.
One god king would tear down another’s might
And use the bones to build something better.
War waged and winners weathered
The new Khmer harnessed only destruction.
And can only manage gilded stuppes
And dirty waters.

Imagine all our monuments broken down.
Chipped and smelted.
Powdered an wilted.
Some new upstart with an eye for redecorating
Marching armies with standards high.

Coming for Us All

Life –
Passing by us all
Some try
Some fail
Some by deeds enumerated
Some by acquisitions agglomerated
Some by happy happenstance
Some because they never leave their house.
Some because they resisted touching their face.

Some because the education system worked in their favor
were taught they a basic understanding of statistics
Of those who trusted the experts making their best guesses in uncertain times.
Those are the ones who protected their families
Who put the safety of others before their summer holiday.
Stewards who suffered in a self-inflicted desert
So a few more people could live the collective dream.

Burn it all down

Scrape it into a pile.
Gather everything
that once had meaning.
Pack it full of tinder.
Scorch it to a cinder.
Build up the pyre.
Build up the pyre.
We got lots of wood.
Splitting with anger.
Chords of disbelief.
Gasoline and camphor.

Flick your bics
Flick your bics
and set it all on fire.

Burn it all down.
It’s time to start over.
Burn it all down.
It’s time to start over.

You grab the big ax.
I’ll whack it
with the hatchet.
Let’s get to work.
Time to make a racket.
Build up the pyre.
Build up the pyre.
Splitting with anger.
Chords of disbelief
Gasoline and camphor.

Flick your bics
Flick your bics
and set it all on fire.

Burn it all down.
It’s time to start over.
Burn it all down.
It’s time to start over.