DOG SHIT AND POTHOLES IN MY LAWN by Cassandra Dallett

I’m puzzled by funerals
and malls

a writer with no ink pen
a cracked computer screen

the internet is down
and cable won't fix it

the paycheck went through the dryer
got thrown out with the lint

they’re not giving out diplomas
or raises here

out of bed at 6 a.m.
the hurt of it

is hurled around the house
on unsuspecting kids

threats of ass kicking
end in the tears of a loony mother

regret leaves a bad taste in my mouth
and coffee is a hell of a high

when I wind down the house is clean
and the anger is small again

but the crying never stops

I am soft

as the rotten pears on the table
a finger tip
will peel my skin away.

#

Cassandra Dallett occupies Oakland, CA. Cassandra writes of a counter culture childhood in Vermont and her ongoing adolescence in San Francisco Bay Area. She has published in Slip Stream, Sparkle and Blink, Out Of Our, Up The River, Hip Mama, and The Criminal Class Review, among many others. A full-length book of poetry Wet Reckless will be released from Manic D Press in the spring of 2014.