Steve Almond

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Riptide Because we are men of a certain age without visible boundaries or excuses we ignore the yellow flap of caution flags and the lifeguard propped against wet wind

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Michael Jordan Chews Gum Substantially harder than you or me a clamping motion that knots the muscles of his already severely toned presagital ridge and speaks to some higher form…

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Hobo Chant, LaFayette, Louisiana, 1937 dem coals inside your chest dem coals is hot and white you gotta change your mackacheese if you wanna be ma wife

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) How We See the Aged A woman pulls at the pilled pleat of her seersucker skirt with one hand,

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Owed to Water It is said the ocean forgets everything forgets the lash of lightning and the stones it grinds to sand and the planks it swallows without joy or…

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Sartre, You’re Such an Asshole You thought your derriere off, no beef there. But your heart: was it missing a valve or something? Why do all your plays end in…

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) The Fruit Standkeeper, Wroclaw His hands are a thing of beauty, long, thick fingers moving in webs grazing apples and onions settling each into the rusted cradle of his scale,…

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Trained You will ask why I never tore her down with my famous claws and arrowed jaws why instead I sat about, moewed, and on occasion lept through fire.

(Writing wretched verse so you don’t have to since 1995) Duck They were so young, this couple still new to their stories, looking ahead and not looking, locked into marriage. The problem