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Flotsam, Jetsam: Pick One

from This​/​That by Ok Housecat

/

lyrics

…five six seven eight
it was great until the flagship sank
while we drank champagne and watched the day parade
march lock step first through the barricade,
then down a well, to the crowd’s dismay

If caffeine is the opposite of chivalry:
well you can still count me in.
I’m certain I would rather be alive
than put up with the
ball and chain and lock and key,
inhaling coffee only addicts drink-
reminders only help me think
not-quite-arms’-length in front of me

he said, “If I’m to be the messenger,
then I hope your wallet’s FULL;
my fees are steep but clean, cheapened by
the subsidies of lotteries
and subsequential poverty
of users that can only see
the uses for the funds appearing
only in one man’s arms’ length”

that’s when the flotsam and the jetsam got some traction
when that unforeseen call-to-action
cracked the porcelain
his mandible happened to be cast in

so let’s whittle down the sample size
to something singular and randomized
designed by New York Times New Roman
defined by number lines that spiral
loop-de-loop and swoop and pull
’til half past empty is almost full

when I heard the car alarm I bolted up a tree
staring down intently at my bare hands
estimating the time it’d take to dig a hole so deep
I’d snap that oak tree’s talons once and for all

ever unreliably sober
but undeniably related to the maker
shaken but intent on making viable
the pliable idea that midday
can still be BLACK as PITCH
coincidentally inclined to
find the kind of snitch who cannot help himself

I said, “Physician, heal thyself!”
then tucked away my dashboard shade
and made for any other stable place
that a doctor might find himself saved from grace.

so he and I defaced the plywood sign by the highway
then in sneaks doubt and with snide chagrin
I FREAK OUT/BREAK GLASS/
fresh air in my lungs akin
to the ashtray water left on the deck
when the rains came in

and so I straighten out the learning curve,
assault the pavement, strain my throat,
“I’m a con man, not an artist!”
then between the gnashing of teeth,
the rustling of coats,
the smell of burning rubber when the asphalt explodes,
the sidewalk chalk mural in the sewers below
depicts venn diagrams playing god even though
the ARITHMETIC just won’t ADD UP

credits

from This​/​That, released August 31, 2016

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Ok Housecat Nashville, Tennessee

MUSIC and
HOMEMADE ELECTRONIC
MUSICAL
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