Death is a Lonely Business

—Poems by William S. Gainer, Grass Valley

—Photos of Locke, California by Cynthia Linville, Sacramento

ADMIRING A MEMORY

Out on the porch
we keep a flower pot
with a little patch of grass
growing in it.
No, not that stuff,
the kind kids play on.
Every once in a while
I take the shears
and give it a mow…
spend a little time
cleaning up
the mess,
stand out in the drive
and admire my work. 

ANOTHER MAMMAL FOR THE PLATE

Barely anyone
eats whale meat
anymore.
But some still long
for its taste
and sometimes
you—
yes you,
even you,
wonder
if it’s
salty…

A BUM IN RENO

With a voice
gentle—

asked if I had a dollar.
I gave him two.

Then about the dime,
pointed
said, you dropped it.
I said, yeah.

Thanks
not much of a word
he said it twice—
his eyes
once more.

I told him,
be safe man.

He said,
it’s hard.

THE THIEF OF GOOD

A sloppy mishap
of what
could have been.

Living somewhere
between
myth maker
and liar
none of it true.

He’s grown old
becoming nobody
nobody
wants to be.

My sorrow is
introducing him
to truth—
only
to witness
its theft.

THE SAD-EYED GIRL

She quit shaving
her eyebrows
looks like Frida
now
except
with short hair
and boy’s shoes.
She’s still convinced
nobody loves her—
him, her,
anybody.
You want to ask
if anyone’s
touched it
yet,
but you don’t.
Still
for her sake
you hope
someone has.

THE LIST OF WHO CARES

At thirteen
she took a time out
pushing thirty now
still on it.
She drinks a bit,
smokes
enjoys a little of this
sometimes
sometimes,
some of that—
it’s a good place
to hide.

She thinks she’s
witty,
has an edge,
reads her poem
about her period—
it isn’t a poem. 
She collects wreckage
mostly her own.
Throws it back
at the world.
The list of who cares
lost.

Her teeth
aren’t what they
used to be.
Some nights
it’s the line,
the shelter:
a coffee,
a soup,
maybe a sandwich
for later
and a prayer
she doesn’t want
to hear.

She drinks a bit,
it’s a good place
to hide
from everything
she could have been. 

DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS
                             (for Lara)

Should go
but I’m not—

to
the service.

Wonder
what she
looked like
in green?

They won’t miss me.
If they do,
I’ll just tell them
I was home
alone
with my thoughts …

We never had
a lot to say.
Just friends
in passing—

mostly 
hi, bye,
how you been,
missed you.

The rest,
I’ll keep
to myself.

I think
she would have
looked
good
in green.

We’ll never know …

Today's LittleNip:

CHAIRS TO-GO

Saw a guy
walking downtown
carrying a chair
a kitchen chair
he was carrying it
like a surfboard,
except with legs
you know...
I imagine
he's ordering them,
the chairs
one at a time
To-Go...

_______________________

—Medusa, with thanks to today's contributors, both of whom have work appearing in the new issue of Rattlesnake Press's WTF!? which will be released tonight at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, 8pm, hosted by editor frank andrick. Be there!