Poetry

Tobi Oluremi photo

By

S. Liam Spradlin

The Reality of a Troubled Mind

Circumstance is just

One view of perspective

The polarity of the

Populist jargon

Becomes muffled under

The jagged rim of

Mulched lies and words

Sprinkled like fertilizer

On the heads of the ignorant

Smiles and applause traded

For how things really are

Behind the curtain of

Revelation before the play begins.

My stage fright is not from

The audience, but rather the

Actors who take the stage.

I pay to watch a tragedy unfold

That I feel powerless to stop.

Under the dim lights my eyes locate

The exit signs on either side

Of the stage. My hope leaves me

While I wait begging for the end.

Leave My Underwear Alone

Agitated! Dropping Quarters

In a stainless steel box that removes

The present stains from

My daily life. Add the bleach

During the rinse cycle for

Best results. Dryer sheets

Litter the floor from earlier

Patrons. Empty clothes hanger

Barely twist from the AC that runs

Constantly because the one-way

Door never gets shut. Someone drove

The nose-end of a Mercedes

Through the wall at the

Wishy-Wash. Who drives

Something that fancy and

Does their own laundry?

Timer says five minutes left

I watch like I am trapped

In the spinning cylinder

Of truth and lies. The final

Minute is never just one minute

The white wash turns to a stop

And a sudden clang of the handle

Tells me to stop dreaming and

Open the door. The smell of

Bleach burns my nostrils.

S. Liam Spradlin

S. Liam Spradlin writes poetry and nonfiction. He has been published in the 2017 annual edition of The Sequoyah Review, a literary journal published by UTC. He has also been published online and in print with the Scarlet Leaf Review, and by TheSongIs. He lives in Fort Oglethorpe, GA with his partner, published author Kim D. Bailey. You may contact S. Liam via Facebook at Facebook/shan.spradlin and [email protected]