~
Poetr- for -vette
Not one moment is probable.
Adverbs will not work and are gone without farewell.
Could I replace b-e with bi?
Without it I cannot contrive a means to possess m- world.
I have no credibilit-, no abilit-, qualit-.
I have objective and subjective, the power to do but not sa-
Give me compan-!
I don’t even have -ou.
Who needs –ellow? It’s a word that means
Coward. I can scream without –elling.
I thought the mind was better than this.
Give it a task and it will do as asked,
But this is hard; complicated; a mess.
The letter is a conundrum. Sometimes this and
Sometimes that. Sometimes vowel and sometimes
Not. And sometimes I felt a little like that.
Needed? We’ll see. I bet I can go without.
No? I cannot agree. I look down at the gap that is
Almost, but not quite a toothless hole in the mouth
Of the board, the direct center of my vision
between T and U and under 6 and 7.
Tu travailles!
All that is swirling in the mind,
the vast files of dust covered steel vaults in this attic,
one large file is missing near the end.
It’s being in a dark dark room remembering
Flashes of the two strokes:
One towards the right. One towards the left.
I cannot even ask the question at mind except:
Wh- did -ou leave without a goodb-e?
~
Sam Bassett
Sam lives in Pittsburgh, PA. at Point Park University, they graduated with a degree in English and Creative Writing. They have had “A Sickness in the Countryside” published in Safe to Chew: An Anthology by Wicwas Press and “Allegheny Means Good River” published in the literary journal Rivets by Phoenix of Alexandria. As a proud millennial and non-binary individual, Sam is happy to be representing a diverse voice.