The Satanic Satanist

people say
lovers in love
have

[the sun.
[the woods.
[the home.

((do you?))

if i work all day for guns and dogs, will i
let you down?

in the mornings,
everyone is golden,

if only from
the sun.

Source Text: created using song titles from Portugal. The Man’s album The Satanic Satanist

Cope

after
the Scripture
i cope
with the trees
and indentions
of every stone, every sentence.
i see it again:

the ocean
the mansion.

never
really been another
way out
of these rooms

Source Text: created using song titles from Manchester Orchestra’s album Cope

Bone Machine

the ocean doesn’t
want me,

it just wants
a little rain

because there was only
dirt in the ground

when the earth died
screaming

-such a scream-
all stripped down,

that feel of
Jesus gonna be here soon.

i don’t wanna grow
up in the Coliseum

where it’s alway
black wings

and murder
in the red barn

and asking myself
“who are you?”

Source Text: created using song titles from Tom Waits’ album Bone Machine

A Dead Man on my Back: Shine Honesty Revisited

well-behaved women
rarely make history.

i was
the emasculated man

and the city
that swallowed him

so gracefully was fashionable
…and you said it was pretty here

i kept getting asked
how many times do you want to be in love?

i told them love is a shotgun
so tie your monster down:

gun control
means using both hands

Source Text: created using titles from Quiet Company’s album A Dead Man on my Back: Shine Honesty Revisited

Michael Prihoda is a poet and artist living in the Midwest. He is founding editor of After the Pause and his work can be found in various journals in print and around the web. He loves llamas and the moments life makes him smile.