“go to the store
be in a relationship”
some people think
if an idea takes a long time to spread
like years,
it’s still a new idea
I used to make music
years ago
about people most didn’t know
I had confidence I could still do it
make a hit
this is my excuse
they’re throwing grape juice
at me in first period
she missed the trash can she says
[no she didn’t]
look up and it’s a work day
kids with no assignment
complain they’ve got friends
with mean parents
gifts from people unliked
I bring over Japanese candy
and a boxset of Sailor Moon DVD’s
and her parents said
it’s not another beta fish?
I schedule an oil change
on my birthday
set my phone on airplane
I oversleep the oil change
by an hour, it’s 10 a.m.
time to wait in line
for bagels, I notice
I set high standards
for the type of day I need to have
in order to celebrate successfully
I look up Depeche Mode tickets
it’s five hundred and seven
dollars to see them three hours
away in Philadelphia
my girlfriend says I sound grumpy
and that she can’t hear me
she’s talking and
I’m making writing
talking about shoes
to fill, my brother
wears my socks
when he plays basketball
she says I grind my teeth
sleeping on her chest
but doesn’t wake me up
she thinks I fall asleep in the middle of movies
to be as far away as possible
past the farms head
first into
the mountain air
and by evening
I brake downhill two hours East
back to the concrete
gulping at my feet
perhaps when one considers
this excercise of stretching
it’s easier to understand
the eventual splitting it caused
my girlfriend
gives me lighters
on Valentine’s — her nude photos
printed on them
a couple days later
I drop one in the toilet
now it doesn’t spark
a broken tool
-analysis and brisk pace become necessary
today I noticed, everyone
I walk behind
turned around, saw me
and got out of my way
I was just looking for a hand
cart, just walking to class
taking the stairs
I feel late but perhaps I’m not
I note:
really any marketing strategy
is a way of limiting your market
standing out to people
willing to pay
are you up-to-date?
commercial and copyrighted
willing to pay?
I need paper towels and almond milk
I get pizza bagels, donuts & blackberries
they just leave all that lying around
to pick up & go
but how can I just leave
they ask for money
or whatever’s in our pockets
to see whose corruptible
surprised they don’t say
just give us your phone
and I won’t kill you
hell, what’s more surprising is
they don’t make us buy another phone
answer another riddle
making the list of demands seem cut short
Jeremy R Boyd
Jeremy Boyd is a 27 year old poet, substitute teacher & soccer coach. His two chapbooks & an interview series have been published by Ghost City Press.
Twitter: @sp1it