Howie Good

The Killers

Assassins and secret policemen,
just following protocol,
experiment on each other to relieve
their boredom or queasiness,

regularly say “Cool!” and “Awesome!”
and “Got it!” while meaning
something quite different,

wear only dark clothing sewn
by a half-dozen or so blind tailors,

perpetuate the ancient notion
that the wind can compose poems,

attend a Wednesday matinee
at The Theater of Disappearance,

wake up in a foreign city
the next morning feeling neither
hungover nor conspicuous,

smile crookedly at you with teeth
like the ovens at Auschwitz.

Howie Good‘s latest book is “Hitchhiking Through the Apocalypse” (Grey Book Press).