the american way

by DB Cox



after another night

of stumbling done-in

down metropolis streets

too fucked-up to fly



superman lies

eyes closed

still under the influence-

naked in the space



between night & day

conjuring pathetic

x-ray visions

of a spent comic book hero



too tired

to walk through walls

or leap tall buildings

with a single bound



too strung out

to keep it all

from falling down-

dead certain



that truth, justice

& the american way

are no longer worth

the never-ending battle



so,

for the sixth time tonight

the frustrated

man of steel



grabs the .38

from the bedside table-

puts it to his head

& pulls the trigger







DB Cox is a blues musician/writer from South Carolina. His writing hasappeared in Underground Voices, Sein Und Werden, Dogmatika, ThunderSandwich, Dublin Quarterly, Aesthetica, Bonfire, Gator Springs Gazette, Heat City Review, Snow Monkey, Southern Hum, Southern Gothic and others.



He has had three chapbooks of poetry published: “Passing For Blue”(published by Rank Stranger Press), “Lowdown” and “Ordinary Sorrows”(published by Pudding House Publications). Main Street Rag recently published his first full-length poetry collection, “Empty Frames”.