One Day Lebron James Will Be Dead by Justin Karcher

One Day Lebron James Will Be Dead

I’m smoking on the back porch
Of the Merlin Guesthouse in Key West

Listening to that new Arcade Fire song “Everything Now”
I don’t like it    suddenly my smartphone tells me that in California

The Warriors are embarrassing the Cavs
And on Duvall St I hear all the Ohio snowbirds cleansing their industrial systems

With key lime pie laxatives
Earlier in the night, the hostess at Sloppy Joe’s told me it’s Martini Mondays

That everyone deserves a moment to let loose

Sloppy Joe’s is where Hemingway mastered the art of being a bad father
Where he sparred with a bipolar prizefighter in the bathroom mirror

Where his heart collected kitty litter dust
And his brain sought refuge with jubilant pigs in Cuba

Where they rolled around in missile-less mud
Telling each other dirty jokes about what it means to be a man

Then everything changed: good-looking leaders were murdered
In mermaid motorcades at the bottom of the sea

And the world became so anxious all the time

Now there are bearded warheads fishing for newborn fetuses
On great urban lakes all over America

The Rust Belt is burning
One day Lebron James will be dead

The Cavs are down by nine at the half
So I grab the fire extinguisher that’s mounted on the wall

And run toward Duvall St wearing black Calvin Klein boxer briefs
These insignificant fires are very off-putting

But we have to be more honest with ourselves:

That the world breaks everyone
That hope is a lost treasure no one can find
That we can’t live without each other

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Bio: Justin Karcher is the author of Tailgating at the Gates of Hell from Ghost City Press, http://ghostcitypress.tumblr.com/gcp003, the chapbook When Severed Ears Sing You Songs from CWP Collective Press, https://www.cwp-press.com/#/when-severed-ears-sing-you-songs/ and the micro-chapbook Just Because You've Been Hospitalized for Depression Doesn't Mean You're Kanye West from Ghost City Press, https://gumroad.com/l/karcher2017, as part of their 2017 summer micro-chapbook series. His recent work has appeared in Foundlings, Cease,Cows, Thought Catalog, varsity goth, Occulum and more. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Ghost City Review. His one act play When Blizzard Babies Turn to Stone premiered in February at Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, NY. He tweets @Justin_Karcher.

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