jonberger

Social media was talking about something
but nobody could source it
so I didn’t accept the news.
I don’t need to follow the source through,
I just need to know that it’s there.

So many of my friends were just accepting the news as fact
and I was saying, “Fools!
“Wait until you get verification
or at least an origin point for this information
that seems to come from a reliable place.”

And guess what happened?
My roommate came to me
with a reliable source of information
which probably everyone else had seen
before me so I was behind the times
in not believing the news
that everyone else just easily accepted.

So anyway,
I’m sorry for your loss.

The parking around here has gotten better
ever since the apocalypse.
Granted, there are still some husks
of abandoned vehicles around,
but more and more of them
have been crushed and burnt

by tanks and riots lately
so spaces have been opening up!

I was never one for dating through apps
so now that the towers are down
I can just ask people out directly.
Of course, since gender relations
seem to be at a particular low
with the roaming rape parties out there,
this might not be the best time

to establish heterosexual bonds.

I’ve been loving the opportunity to read
since most middle management has been cancelled
with the fall of civilization.
I just wish there was more electricity
so I could read after hours.

Still, there’s a lot of positive changes we’re seeing.
Lots of improvements in the day to day.
Can’t wait for tomorrow
assuming I’m not murdered in the night!

Somewhere on the Upper West Side
near seventy second street
ought to be scrawled every- and anywhere
the phrase We Heart Franks
in honor of the long-standing

Gray’s Papaya, which, despite the name,
sells primarily hot dogs.

It does sell papaya juice, too,
but no papayas.

The grilled hot dogs are great.

They used to be one of the best deals in town.
Still called the Recession Special,
at six forty five for two dogs and a drink,
it’s not a bad price,
but when you remember a buck ninety five,
it’s hard to pay that without grumbling.

The dogs remain great.

The coconut champagne drink is delightful.
If you’re in the neighborhood
and you don’t mind ignoring
that you’re dining on horse’s anuses,
you should check out Gray’s Papaya.

Somewhere on the Upper West Side
scrawled into the sidewalk
is a heart with the name Frank next to it.
There is no clear author.

Perhaps the writer did not want to be outed
for fear of the repercussions of vandalism
or having their delicate heart bruised
by Frank’s response.

Perhaps Frank is gay, and doesn’t want

the writer’s straight attention
or everything’s reversed: and hetero Francis
is weirded out by the gay writer’s attention.
Or even Ace Frances has to let the trans writer down
– not because the writer is trans
but because the asexual Fran doesn’t want anyone’s attraction at this time
and maybe never.

Maybe Frank just loves themself
or has an enlarged organ
and feels the need to inform the public.

So much to consider.
Luckily, we have all the time in the world
to review.

There is a right and just way to do things
and I try to follow it.
What gets problematic
is when I try to… encourage others
to follow the right and just way, as well.

For the most part,
I’ve got a live and let live approach to life
so when someone won’t let folks
live and let live
I just want to shake ’em until they see the error of their ways.

I was in the park and I saw this kid running into a pile of pigeons.
He was scaring them.
Those poor pigeons!
I wanted to show the kid what it would feel like
by running and raging at him, full-speed.
I was able to temper my urge.
I haven’t been to the park since.

When I’m on the bus and someone takes an aisle seat
so that no one can get in to the window
I make a point to bustle on past them
sticking my butt in their face repeatedly.
When I am capable of farting on cue, I do so.
I’ve only been bloodied twice in the process
– only once with my own blood.

I try to be a paragon
of what I want to see
but if nobody knows just how humble I am,
how can they compliment me on it?

The days get longer
the days get shorter.
Time trudges ever further
away from our days
and I worry that I’ll never see you again
and that this might not worry you at all.

If I knew it caused you
the slightest bit of pain
that might be enough
to salve my hurting heart.

Got an email the other day
that service had been cancelled
but there was no mention of what the service was.

Just shrugged it off as spam.
This morning, though,
after waking up, getting out of bed and housing a stack of bacon,
just discovered no longer have access to eyes.
Sorry: I’s.

Subscription to first person singular
has been cancelled.

No longer have access to identity as individual.
Can’t identify as self.

Not so hard
but not so easy.
Grover does it;
others can, too.

Still, sucks.

It was strange to feel stupid
in class for those moments.

After understanding everything up until then
to suddenly just lose all comprehension
and draw a blank
so quickly,
it was strange, like I said
(am I repeating myself?)
– but fun for a minute.

I was able to out-of-body it
for a little while,
just relax into the idiocy
of incomprehension
and then begin
to put ideas together again.

It was all very weird
like a mini
mini-mini-mini-stroke occurred
and completely ended
over the course of seven minutes.

I didn’t fully understand everything from the class
at the end of it
so maybe I’m still stupid
but I’m getting better.

The last few months have left us tumbled and it’s been rough.
Winter beat us down and we have had enough.
I can feel it coming by the beat of her wings
Still, despite the date, it is not quite Spring

Though the park is suffused with a golden glow,
it’s just one of the colors that she likes to show.
The days are longer and the sky is promising
but no matter evidence, it is not yet Spring.

I don’t think that I can wait much longer…
the need to speed into the season’s getting stronger…
Are there many more days that I must ponder
if patience for Spring is right, then I am wronger!

I miss being out of doors and walking jacketless.
If I could do that again, ‘twould be miraculous.
I cannot wait for all the stuff the season can bring.
It’s coming soon, I’m sure! It’s just not quite Spring.

Any day now, I’ll be checking, only to recognize
a shift in weather before my very own eyes.
With warmth and sunshine and other vital things
I will discover that I have finally entered Spring.

The season’s changing really soon, you can’t control it.
No matter what you try to do, you won’t withhold it.
I’ve seen the future and my prophecy foretold it.
The Spring is coming and it’s great. Hell, we are owed it!

I kept her waiting. I do that more than I should.
I’m just the sort of kind of nobody who’s always up to no good.
But when I got there she looked radiant; like nothing could be wrong with the Earth.
As if all was glorious under Heaven
and her time I was worth.

So we got to chatting, catching up since our last talk.
I was amazed it was going so well; I felt kinda smooth. I didn’t even gawk
but the folks around us did. Seeing me with someone as classy as her.
They’d never believe it if they could hear what she said when she came close and purred.

She said: “I think I got a use for you in the organization.
I think there’s a place where you could fit right in.
Yeah, I’m sure there’s room for you in the organization,
if you’re ready to sin”

I shook. “Is this an interview?” I asked with a gulp, “am I here for some work?”
“I’ve got some positions that I’m mulling over,” she replied with a smirk.
“There’s a job or two I think you would like,” she mentioned devilishly.
While looking at a potential employer, I don’t know what came over me,

But I suggested we conference in a quieter spot where disruptions would be few
so we went upstairs for a tet a tet and discussed my future, we two.
I can’t discuss the wheeling and the deals behind those doors that noon
but we worked out a transition plan and I’ve been working with her since and I am over the moon!

Yeah, I found a place in the organization.
I’d always been a loser but I’m learning how to win.
There’s a place for me in the organization.
I’ve fit right in.