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Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Restless, Hung Over, Psychotic

 
Tohm
—Poetry by Tohm Bakelas, New Jersey
—Public Domain Photos



forevermore
 
i'm just a restless soul
on a dead-end road
and there's no place to go
 
 
 

 
 
doesn’t he know i’m hung over?
 

red-bellied woodpecker
jackhammers the gutter
above my window
 
 
 

 
 
just regular stuff
 
i booked a massage
the place was clean and smelled nice—
i did not get off
 
 
 

 
 
diner haiku
 
waiting for my food
the diner is crowded—
i look out the window
 
 
 

 
 
a paranoid thought to a real possibility
 

Open containers—
real vulnerability—
did she poison it?
 
 
 
 


it happens every time
 

no matter where i go
or what i do, psychotic people
find me
 
 
 

 

future plans
 
cold rainy night—
let's kiss and draw straws on who will
catch pneumonia first
 
 
 

 

 treasure trove
 
your lack of evidence makes
me laugh as your children
smile at my jokes
 
 
 

 

parallel lives fuse
 
it took thirty years
so many empty-handed sunsets
i love you

____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

haiku for m.t.s.

 
when i am with you
all that coldness goes away
my heart swells with warmth

____________________

Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, zines, and online publications, and he has published 13 chapbooks. He runs Between Shadows Press (betweenshadowspress.bigcartel.com). Welcome to the Kitchen, Tohm, and don’t be a stranger!

•••Thurs. (tomorrow, 11/4), 7-9pm: Poetry in Davis presents Miles Miniaci plus open mic, John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st St., Davis. Host: Frank Graham.

____________________

—Medusa
 
 
 
Vincent Steals Subjects for His Paintings
—Public Domain Cartooon


 






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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