Vision by Howie Good
I’ll occasionally see the oddest things out of the corner of my eye – a beatnik cowboy, smiles like misplaced commas, even Pope Francis declaring from his window, “Don’t be afraid of tattoos.” The doctors say it’s the result of my body attacking itself. My knowing CPR helps, but not as much as you would think. Embarrassing evidence of my wounds sometimes seeps to the surface. I had to rush out twice during the performance of a symphony that was barely 17 minutes long. It’s good, though, to keep a record in case any of this ever ends up in court.
Howie Good is the author of more than two dozen poetry collections, including most recently The Death Row Shuffle (Finishing Line Press), The Trouble with Being Born (Ethel Micro Press), and Gunmetal Sky (Thirty West Publishing).
Photo by Manuel Nägeli