UNDERGROUND VOICES MAGAZINE/GREG SCHARF

GREG SCHARF

Uneasy Dreams Interrupted by a Midnight Door Knocker With a Deadly Figure

I hear them
in the garden
clipping away
at all the world's
ugly
irregularities

spraying noxious chemicals
to kill
all the hideous loathsome
things
that creep along
on their dirt stained
bellies,

which is why
I deadbolt my door
and keep the interesting
parts
of my ugly
irregular
soul safe
on the other
side

but when
poison
slithers in
to a low-cut frock
and speaks
in sweet believable lies,
I can't resist
turning the key counter-
clockwise
and opening up
for that slow kill that comes
one minor
midnight dose
at a time.

Solicitors and Suckers

During the day
the solicitors constantly ring my phone
offering cheap
long distance service,
low apr credit cards
and "free" Hawaiian getaways

and in the evening
it's all about blowjobs
that'll send your eyes up god's flowing robes
and love like amnesia
to make you forget the simple definitions
of heartbreak and whore

and I'm the type of sucker
who gets screwed by one false offer
after another,
yet I continue to answer
the phone
and listen to their slick spiels,
because I am dumb
and like believing
in the unbelievable dream at the heart
of every fool's gold-plated lie

Maybe one day
I'll be too broke to pay AT&T
and my phone service
(along with my sickness)
will become suspended,
or maybe I'll mercifully slip
into such a deep catatonic
despondency
that I won't be able to rise
from my bed
to say hello
ever fucking
again.

More of Greg's stuff is upcoming in Spent Meat, Trespass and High Horse.
email: nauseagarage@gmail.com