the living with the living, the dead with the dead
The building had 60 stories
and he was 60 years old
Still cleaning it from bottom to top
for the past 35 years
one thing remained unchanged
as time passed
the coldness
Every surface he’d ever touch would
be as cold as the glass
of a window in the winter
And the people who
worked in the building were
pale and cold as vampires
He forgot how it was to be saluted
or how it was to salute
and get a reply
No one talked to the janitor
No one knew his name
No one cared
There were no souls in this isolated
monolith
that stood in the center
overlooking other monoliths
Hell is cold
and monotonous
and plays constant factory noises
or keyboard noises
and exudes smoke
Even the plants were made of
plastic and their flowers
and leaves had to be sprayed with alcohol
and wiped with a rag
Real plants wouldn’t
accept such treatment
They would punish you with their death
and that should be enough
But not for those pale vampires
The only thing alive
was him, the janitor
who imagined jazz music playing in
his mind as he scrubbed the tiles
and one mushroom that grew behind one of the
toilets in the women’s bathroom from
a used pad
He left it there for days
It was his little secret, his little friend
in this world of soulless beings
It was life sprouting against
impossible odds
Life in hell
It was something to look up to
every day
Something to kneel before and say
hello to and sing jazz to
and even pat gently with the finger
He promised himself that the day that
mushroom died
he would retire
So far it was still alive
Still sprouting spores that he
inhaled
and tasted with his tongue after
rubbing it gently with his finger
Living beings
stick together
regardless of species
Just like the dead do
***
INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/bogdan_1_dragos/
the female assassin
the ashtray was looking more
and more
like a sick hedgehog
and her yellowed fingers
added one more quill to it
she sat back in her chair
work wasn't in the best of stages lately and
her office looked like a junkie's
trailer. You could
scrape the nicotine
off the walls. In fact, she
would get nicotine under her nails if she
just scratched her skin
anywhere
But otherwise she was
a beauty
and that was a problem. Beautiful
women have the worst
luck in marriages
The husband left and the two girls went
with him
They were sick and tired of her
habit to consume more cigarette smoke than
oxygen
And drinking was also a problem
though not nearly
as big
The worst drinking has ever done to her
was to make her lose
the driving license which she never
bothered to take back
The real problem was,
as always,
a lack of money. If the damn phone didn't
ring soon
she would have to kill someone
for a pack of cigarettes
Assuming she could still
kill
someone with her body rotting from the
inside. She was fine with
breast cancer
but now lung cancer joined too
and it was by far nastier
Still
that was all right
It doesn't take a healthy body to pull
a trigger
And speaking of triggers
She opened a drawer in her desk
took out the gun
studied it
Not loaded
She browsed through the drawer
Only one bullet left. One single bullet.
These things cost money
too
Damn it
But it's like they said back in
the mercenary camp
The last bullet is always preserved to be
used on the self
She loaded the bullet into the
gun
A life lived well is one
lived without regrets and without
ever asking for mercy
or feeling sorry for yourself
At 39
she had that. There was nothing
else to be taken
away from it
She put the gun to her
temple
Smiled
"Except for a final smoke."
***
https://bogdandragos.com/2021/02/08/the-female-assassin/
an old instrument with rusty strings
he sits alone in the
darkness
on a wooden chair
The walls surrounding him
have no
mirrors and
the windows are covered
by the thickest blinds
He doesn’t want to see his
old age
and the decay that already
started consuming
his body
In his mind he’s still
young, still
in his early twenties
still dreaming
He’s listening to music
He’s playing the music
and it exhausts him
The music comes from
within
An instrument with strings
His growling guts
He lubricates them with more
beer
***
WITH AUDIO:
https://bogdandragos.com/2021/01/25/an-old-instrument-with-rusty-strings/
Fly By Night Sniper
(Edit #2)
What you believe...
More then you’d show...
Were they deceived?...
Fleeced by sly crows...
On that last leg...
Shimmering like gold...
Journey by Sea...
Back in your home...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
You will go far...
You will go far...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
Fresh appetites on
The rise...
Mad Men on screens...
Paid to paint sky...
Well pampered fiends...
Train pencilled eye
When to look where...
Who gets there first...
Be it by train,
Or festooned hearse...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
You will go far...
You will go far...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
Fresh appetites on
The rise...
Zone of Death clause...
Stalled by success...
If you break free,
Count yourself blessed...
Mugged and shot down...
Dusted for prints...
What Zoo allows
Caused throngs to wince...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
You will go far...
You will go far...
Strike up a deal
With the Candy man...
Fresh appetites on
The rise...
©
10/10/20
Bunny Villaire
Sometimes I ask myself...
Sometimes I ask myself,
What did you do to deserve this life in Hell?
Sometimes I ask myself,
Why do you do the things that I do?
Can't you just be normal?
Or is that too much to ask?
And then myself fights back.
I'm sorry that I'm broken.
I'm sorry that I'm torn.
I'm sorry I'm not perfect.
Maybe I should've never been born?
Would you be satisfied then?
If I was never alive, would it reduce your stress x10?
Sometimes I ask myself,
Who are you?
And myself replies,
I don't know, that person's gone too.
You continue because of it
it's a bit cold
I'm sitting by the margin of the river
Fishing
A bit upset
There were too many fish who escaped
my nets
I sigh
throw 'em again
wait
I catch one
pull it out and stomp on its golden head
rip it apart from the body
and drink its blood
...
Yeah, bullshit
I'm sitting in the office
night shift
supervising casinos through
CCTV cameras
it's 05:53
and I'm ignoring work to write poems
like this one
and something always comes up
and makes me forget my ideas
The phone rings
Some customer causes trouble in some casino
Some other customer is suspected of cheating
A bouncer falls asleep on his
chair due to lack of activity
The game attendant flirts with a customer
There's a bill fallen on the floor and I've to
determine its owner
A bunch of idiots are being too loud
Some other idiot keeps demanding alcohol
but his bets ain't worth shit
and so on
and on
and on
And the goldfish escape through my fingers
and the eyes of my nets are too wide
and that just sucks, man
It really does
But I pick myself up
and tell myself what I always tell myself
A writer writes
A writer writes
A writer writes
Just like a fisherman fishes
And you don't stop because the catch
is rickety
You continue because of it
Grieve
I constantly grieve for you
Oh, how I used to hate you
I once saw in the reflection
Someone looking to be adored--
Eyes polluted with sorrow, a gaze
So bleak that a mannequin looked more
real
How could you still feel?
Why did you still try?
Where the answer lies
Resides behind that doleful look
That opaque oasis that we call will
And you willed your way there--
To the state you're at now
I used to hate you, but
Now, I think I love you.
A mistake made twice is a decision*
I wrote a poem about schizophrenic pottery
and there was a long silence
after I spoke to my psychiatrist
about it
On the day I turned twenty
I promised myself I wouldn't see thirty
Someone in rehab asked me
why thirty, and not your next birthday?
I stand up in front of you
questioning my worth
and all I get
is a handshake and hospital bills
I write fiction in
the vein
of an apology
Sorry for the broken pottery
*I can't get this
out of my head
sorry in advance
if it doesn't make sense**
**It's broken and messy
Oh Happy Day Down South
"How odd," I thought as I listened to deep breaths before my eyes opened.
It was unusual for me to feel a little "interested" in the morning. I reached down there and flipped the fuck out! I jerked my hand away.
My heart pounded as I flew out of bed and ran to the bathroom mirror.
Oh bajeesus! Oh saint and salt peter I have a peter!
Like a sibling, there I was a man.
I put on some of my son's clothes left boxed in the garage, got into my car and took off to Denny's to chow down. After breakfast, I realized I had a doctor's appointment.
I called and cancelled the pap smear.
I went to the grocery store and I could lift all that shit!
Back to town I went to negotiate the car deal I've been meaning to make. I got a sweet deal! On the way out I stopped roadside, stepped out of sight and took me a piss!
I wadn't gonna waste the pleasures of this day. I spied on women.
Next stop the titty bar! After a few beers I saw a fight fixin' to happen. I wasn't scared or nothin'! I was just lookin' for a reason to jump in.
By five o'clock I looked kinda sexy just barely needing a shave.
I went out that night and went home with a "lady." Woohoo!
At home, I moved the refrigerator. The floor beneath was driving me crazy before.
Now it's time for a little football before bed.
Strange as it sounds (and I'm still gonna "nix" the pap smear), I hope I'm a lady tomorrow.
Origami Heart
Your words form the wind
I hide behind my wide fan
Heart folded in half
The sword of your gaze
Begets another bookfold
My fragile fan slain
Now my tiny heart
Beats like a hummingbird's wings
As you turn away
Then I step forward
Heart curled corner to corner
Voice an oblique line
It has wings
It has flame
It will never
Give heed to claim
But for you
It will game
This origami heart
Your heel strikes the ground
My heart rotates a quarter
To avoid the spark
The dart of your grin
Flies true and lands where I wish
My last folds invert
Your chuckle, a lance
Inflates the empty box folds
I am paper yet
Your grace is a dance
Let me twirl alongside you
Float as a lantern
It has strings
It has shame
It will never
Taste of fame
But for you
It will game
This origami heart
#5/7/5 form poem