2 Poems by Bryon D. Howell

IS THIS THE PART WE LET GO?

When I was a
young lad,
I used to hate

walking anywhere.

If I couldn't get
a ride
or take a bus
I simply,

didn't go.

I was a scared
little white boy
frightened by all the
different colors of the world
although,
I still don't believe
any of that

was my fault.

Now that I'm older
and wiser,
and get lethargic without
enough exercise,
I walk absolutely
everywhere,
all hours of
the day -

and night.

And so, I walk
the meanest and darkest
of streets
with no more than $2 in
my wallet,
just enough to purchase
some water,
should I feel I'm
starting

to dehydrate.

My blood no longer
pumps
hard when strange cars
approach
from up ahead

or behind.

The world may indeed
be
a sick and twisted
place,
but I'm a 38-year-old
white male,
packing a few
extra pounds,
a day's labor
short
of being completely
broke,
and I haven't had sexual
contact
with anyone
in well over

a year.

I have a better
chance
of being mugged and
pillaged
by some stray cat with
dementia
in some secluded
alleyway
than by another
human being
no matter what
drugs

he's on.

I'm too old
to fear men

that way.

When I stop at the local
Wal*Mart for
that water,
I always make it a point
to smile
at the sweaty boy
pushing carriages
as if it all
has meaning,
with that box-cutter
tucked

in his cheeks.







ANTHEMS

I should have
never brought the portable
with me
to the shelter
and all those CD's
I burned
when we were

still together.

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

skip

Hard Habit to Break

skip

If You Leave Me Now

skip

November Rain

skip

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

skip

Take it to the Limit

skip

My Heart Will Go On

skip

skip

skip

skip

skip

skip.

So much for shit
that runs -

on batteries.




Bryon D. Howell is a poet currently residing in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been writing poetry for a great number of years. Recently, his poetry has appeared in poeticdiversity, Red River Review, The Quirk, The Cerebral Catalyst, The Greasy Spoon Saloon, and The Lost Beat. Bryon is also the Editor-in-Chief of three online poetry 'zines: The Persistent Mirage, Bringing Sonnets Back, and The Brave Little Poem Daily.