where the beast lives

[Billy]

where the beast lives

been pushing a stone up a hill
living inside the ribs of a whale

digging a hole to china
drinking the empty half of the glass
eating the crumbs of my ego
off the floor of my low self-esteem

dark clouds rain hail
the size of mole hills
on my cancelled parade

the skip of my heart is the end

the scratch in my throat is cancer

tomorrow doesn’t look any better
than yesterday from this side
of the mirror where the beast lives

[Kenneth2816]

Shit. If dismal is your goal, congrats. Been there though.

[BobBradshaw]

I like how you're always pushing yourself, your work...how you're willing to expose yourself, and to try different voices, scenes....

I like how you make a reference to a cliche fresh again...as in

"drinking the empty half of the glass"

and I like the toughness of the voice throughout

I like that opening line because you deftly start it without "I" or "I have"....without that expectancy the line takes on unexpected strength, again freshening a cliche that for anyone else would taste stale

"been pushing a stone up a hill"

and as often in your poems, I enjoy your dark humor, as in

"on my cancelled parade"

and I like finally that play on the person staring back at us in a mirror...I think of Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror"...but you've given it a new vitality...the man replaced by a "beast".

[Billy]

Thanks Kenneth, Bob

I think if one can write a poem like this it is actually positive, one has seen it and lived through it and readers recognize where you were and you’ve written about.