TASTES GOOD AND GOOD FOR YA by Kevin Ridgeway

The old man did too much smack again,
his spine is bent into a boomerang
and he’s furiously piling a half
a pound of cheese on top of
boiling ramen noodles,
whistling the first side of Let it Bleed
to himself and
humping the air,
his pelvis thrusting in every direction

he adds a finishing touch
of Newman’s Own peach salsa
to his gelatinous supper
and retires to the bedroom
to finish the second half
of Raising Arizona
yodeling along to
the music and shouting
over his steaming meal

“Tastes good and good for ya!”

I go in to check on him
moments later
the plastic tray of
ramen noodles is
turned upside down at his side,
a guttural snore weaves
in and out of
his thick nostrils
blowing the thick strands
of melted cheese
they are masked in

snow explodes
from the television as
he lays there
in the fetal position
stark naked
with noodles
covering every
inch of
his
tattooed
flesh,
a wig of
wet
ramen over
his head
forms
a shabby
crown

#

Kevin Ridgeway lives and writes in Southern California. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Trailer Park Quarterly, Gutter Eloquence Magazine, poeticdiversity, My Favorite Bullet and Zygote in my Coffee. His latest chapbook of poems, All the Rage, is now available from Electric Windmill Press.