Justin Hyde

i generally don't care for violence

but you've got to cuff this motherfucker
cause he dropped hot for crack
at the work release facility
and he dives at your hips
cause he's looking at three years
before the parole board will give him another sniff at work release
and the back of your head slams into the wall
two of you tomcat on the ground and
you're glad you grew up in a trailer park
got the shit kicked out of you on a daily basis
until you learned to throw a jab from your back
knuckle to nose
like a hammer
dropped from the thirty-second floor
and it feels good
better than writing a poem
better than busting a nut
as if we're born for it
but get mind-fucked by some queer morality

into thinking otherwise.



Justin Hyde lives in Iowa where he works with criminals. He has a web-page here: http://www.nyqpoets.net/poet/justinhyde.