Sketches for characters 
who although locked away 
in the prison past
appeared to be real people
at the time
Con/Jur/d, 4/25/2022

Immediately, I'm confronted by
too many choices, so and so
did this and then I did that
in response

(You’ve already done that)

Right, a shock, do it differently

I didn’t like alcohol, a common
refrain among those who later
self classify as alcoholics

I thought it was 
a waste until 

I noted it
leveraged cocaine 
and appeared to be useful 
for my friend’s
nightterrors  -- being new

to serious writing, and wanting to be
good, when the 
English Major’s English Majors 
the older set, who having  
tasted success and discovering
those lonely hours, of
page after page
word after word
sentence after sentence
stories compounded
could be leveraged, for partners
for power, for a sense of personhood

I took them
at their words
when they said
“You’re not bad, reduce
the weed and drink more”

I was handed
‘truth,’ a fact far
more immutable
my instincts

I believed
were clouded
having grown
up nerdish, so
without further 
adieu

I set about the task
of learning to drink
seeking mentors
among the literary
drunks, falling all over
themselves, to have
a coconspirator, on
those nights when
between events, the
flask filled with stolen
whiskey, couldn’t
fill the Hollow
echoing, both
inside and out,
those nights when

I was
unable to separate
distant sounds of sirens
from the too-loud thump
thump of my heart

it was nice to see
matching tears
from someone familiar
with this parallel and
pagan city.