While you were gone<\/p>\n
i slept on your side of the bed
\ni climbed the stairs backward
\ni stood on the porch and howled at an absent moon
\nwith your panties on
\nthe red ones which i then
\nput neatly away
\nBottles clustered like bowling pins
\ndishes piled like buildings
\ni took them down with terrorist finesse
\na perfect strike<\/p>\n
I kept the ball-peen hammer in the freezer
\ni chased squirrels from the yard
\ni consulted runes
\nrued the result
\ni scared ghosts from our pantry
\ngot drunk three times and
\ncried 17
\nate blackeye peas and gruel and bratwurst with honey mustard
\ni thought 72 immoral and lewd unlawful acts
\ncommitting several without even trying
\ni masturbated using only my left hand
\ni bathed in mayonnaise
\ni found your diary and your dildo
\ni couldn\u2019t help myself
\ni read your dildo
\nbut i did not insert your diary
\nsomethings cannot be<\/p>\n
Funny
\nwith you gone
\ni feel i know you better
\nthan when you are here<\/p>\n
Hurry back
\nI know too much about you already<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“While you were gone” is reprinted from Four Corners.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Larry Crist<\/a> has lived in Seattle for 20 years and is originally from California, specifically Humboldt County. He has also lived in Chicago, Houston, London, and Philadelphia where he attended Temple U receiving an MFA in theatre. He\u2019s been widely published. Some of his favorites are Pearl, Rattle,<\/a> Slipstream, Evening Street Review, Dos Passos Review, Alimentum, Floating Bridge Press, <\/em>and Clover.\u00a0<\/em> He was a 2013 Jack Straw writer.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While you were gone i slept on your side of the bed i climbed the stairs backward i stood on the porch and howled at an absent moon with your panties on the red ones which i then put neatly … Continue reading