The Gorko Gazette

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thegorkogazette

7.16.2024 6:43 AM

‘Machine Gun Kelly’ by Tempest Miller

Machine Gun Kelly

up the sunny promenade
I meet a dog when I’m alive
I take him home and we sit under the white light
it’s California all around
it’s a big state
it never ends, round and round in big circles
and you say it’s never ‘California’ – garbled
and you die and fall in the wind from a window
like a rag
and it’s all No and it’s never yes
and buddy I know, it’s the law
it’s fudged and smothered
and the window shakes in the thunder
it’s the only way, always
the dollar under my boot
the dollar on the base of my shoe
the dollar with the marks of my boot
I crush it out
your dollar is my bottom dollar
I pinch you as we both go naked in a lake
which is a jar of water
with floating pieces of egg crest lilies
he had to go on a coat hanger Thursday
I had to stay until next Mon
I was burned to nothing
a flamethrower shivering all over a birthday party
he had to leave and had to stay
his drunk voice is happy
his drunk days are roaring by
the caramel
the salt taste
the freshness, the travelling feast
my sad plots for revenge
in a dissolving window reflection
it never means as much as it means to you
and you give it all the meaning
especially when you’re bald and he’s still strong
the dollar bill stuck to my boot
as you hold up the bank with a sawn-off shotgun
to pretend Machine Gun Kelly
was a loser just like me

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Tempest Miller is a writer from the UK. His work has appeared in Boats Against the Current, Swamp Pink and JAKE. He releases a monthly chapbook on Amazon. His Instagram is @tempestm1ller.

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