You Know What It Is

the old pill broke my will

like five yellow Lanterns on a solitary green

            some dads forget to be dads the older you get

the inamorata broke my spirit

as country singers and emo punks slam overtop a soggy mike

            I wanted my equal, not a rival

riddle me this, the kid broke the bitchin’ Batwing model

I put together, start-to-finish, when he asked me to help

            it was an airborne accident, of course

the toilet broke, the heat pump too

the drier makes it a trifecta    

            add the lava lamp and blow TAPS over the dead soldier

I broke my long-ago record for number of times

romancing the bone in one week

            a stat I really didn’t want, penalty for roughing the passer

hell, Def Leppard broke my heart in ’87

as did, to greater effect, my high school sweetheart

            the swell and the quell of blind, adolescent fidelity

I’m breaking bad before I dive into a portable hole

sorry, Betty…get bent, Veronica…I wanna neck with Sabrina

            everyone has a dark side

broken shards look beautiful under glistening sunlight

when a rock wages war against a glass bottle

            metaphoric, allegorical anarchy

let’s go for broke, let’s break the camel’s back

help me, I am in Hell, like Trent Reznor circa 1992…

            you know what it is

–Words by Ray Van Horn, Jr.

–Photos courtesy of the public domain