asked to recite one night stood up
with a tremble in my voice I was a
little nervous of course my throat
scratchy and hoarse turning pages
in the book I was holding all eyes
on me as if I were to perform or something
taking a few sips from a water glass
of spritzer taking a deep breath I let out
a roar like a wounded lion in pain
word for word verbatim vibrating
in epic proportion gripping the sides
of the podium feeling the momentum
the crowd went silent I no longer cared
who was listening to my facet leaking
while rusty pipes were knocking
no longer shameful of the roaches
crawling out of the cupboard falling
into the red Solo cup of beer residue left
on the table next to an open bag of Doritos
the cat was out the bag the dog was
outback tied to a tree the mouse was
caught on a trap the whole house heard
the snap in to deep no turning back
feeling the words coming out of my
mouth cut so deep you could reach in
take an organ out heavily sedated
in a trance the curtains drew to a close
audience in stitches from the incision