a frenchman served me a cup of coffee
while vaping and puffing out watermelon-raspberry scented smoke
in little shapes that seemed like they were pretty impressive,
but i also see shapes in clouds,
so it could be all the work of the vapor, i don’t know,
the jury, or in this case, the frenchman
is still out
i caught something in the back of my throat,
and whatever it was made itself comfortable throughout the rest of my body,
easing its way into my joints and spine and head,
until all i feel is this throbbing pulsation that has crippled my thoughts
and made me groggy to no end
the terminator (not that one, the real one) told me that there are rats living and breeding and eating up in my attic, as if i ran some sort of rat nightclub in my attic,
though i’m pretty sure when i signed the lease for this place,
it didn’t say anything about a rat infestation,
but i can’t be sure because of all the fine print put into contracts nowadays
Fred Aiken Writing 