UNDERGROUND VOICES MAGAZINE/JOSEPH VERONNEAU

JOSEPH VERONNEAU

brain spasms

The psychiatrist is paid to care.

Sheepish lighting sets the mood-
wants to know what prompted me
to get out of bed today,
and I tell him it was
to come here and see him.

We reflect dilemmas around
for a bit,
trying to figure out what kinds
of things warrant my attention
and why I give it so freely.

A heavy curtain drapes the window.
He smiles his paid smile
right on cue
in the midst of my provoking
his mind to quiver, to think
about his own half-silence
until a truthful thought ripens.

Orphanage

She stands alone
waiting,
a pack of gummy bears
at her side.

Confusion wears
on her face,
as she wobbles
in place
not understanding
why the dog across the street
is barking.

Her memory will serve her well.
Needles her a bit
as an adult,
reminisces about the times
that didn't happen.

We all sooner
or later
become orphans.

Joseph Veronneau runs Scintillating Publications, a chapbook publishing venue.
He'll be publishing JJ Campbell's latest chap titled "Feel My Disease."
His own poems have or will be published in Typewriter Voodoo, Remark,
Zygote In My Coffee, Poetry Superhighway, and many others.