Tom Miller

whore


the dirty dollars contaminated

with gonorrhea typhoid plague and death

she licks each bill

unveils her saucy oyster

green with e-coli

and they say avoid

during months with "r"

but it's all dirty

and so am i

this april



The beggar poem


he asked for change

and I asked him


is this for beer?


No sir

he said


my wife is in the hospital

I just need forty-nine cents

for the phone call


I have a phone in my car

I said


well sir

I need the money for gas

you see


and I said

it's beer

isn't it?


No sir

he insisted


I need to feed my children

and my wife's in the hospital

and I ain't got no gasoline


okay

I said

and gave him a dollar


he thanked me

blessed me with god

walked to the all night market


and bought a beer


And I hoped his wife

and kids

wouldn't mind waiting


a little while longer



poetry girl put into submission


i told her

no specifications of length

but poems of less than 40 lines

had a better chance with me


she was a talker


i told her i do not comment

on rejections


she rhymed


no greeting card verse

no simultaneous submission


she was predictable, abstract, and cliche-ridden


i can not use you

i said


i am literature, she roared

hear me rant


i sent her back


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