Whichever way the sign points, go the other way.
The kid upstairs likes to hear herself scream.
He left a suicide note that said he really wanted to stay.
Calm evenings are the exception, it’s easier during the day.
Why does the kid upstairs like to hear herself scream?
Whichever way the sign points, go the other way.
No amount of figuring will tell you why she sounds that way.
Whatever your conjecture, it’s not the way it seems.
He left a suicide note that said he really wanted to stay.
I spend more time than I should ciphering the neighbors’ games.
It isn’t who or what you know it’s who or what you’ve seen.
Whichever way the sign points, go the other way.
I’m only speculating here, don’t look at me that way.
Since the grass is dead on my side, over there it must be green.
He left a suicide note that said he really wanted to stay.
I know exactly what you mean but I’d rather not say.
You’ll never get ahead at that rate of speed.
But whichever way the sign points, go the other way.
He left a suicide note that said he really wanted to stay.
My poetry, prose and translations have appeared in more than 100 literary journals. Poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in New American Writing, The Yale Review, American Journal of Poetry, Rasputin and Pacifica, among others. My poetry collection Mean Numbers was published in 2016, and is available on Amazon. My new collection of poetry, True for the Moment, will be published in the fall of 2019 by MadHat Press. Selections from an ongoing collage collaboration with a painter can be found at www.thecorpses.com.