Shopping for Crayons by Scott Neuffer

         Paul Simpson CC



Shopping for Crayons

Have you ever rubbed crayons together
to see the colors streak and clot
pulpy like brain matter?
Never mind. I was just thinking
how it’s best to knock open
the clamped-down, door-shut world
so that new colors shine and sing.
What would you do
with peak caffeination?
I like to write poems in my head
while shopping with my kids.
I like to imagine strangers kissing
in stingy aisles.
I like to tease acid thoughts
till they’re fluffed like clouds.
Try to understand,
language is bait to a better life.
Ever wonder how we’ve built so much,
spent ourselves every which way?
Never mind. Pierce the eye of the cliché.
Strange we’re friends
kicking in different dreams.
I love you too and forever.

​

Scott Neuffer—author of RANGE OF LIGHT (forthcoming) and SCARS OF THE NEW ORDER—is a writer, journalist, poet, and musician who lives in Nevada with his family. His work has appeared in Nevada Magazine, Foreword Reviews, Underground Voices, Construction Literary Magazine, Shelf Awareness, Entropy Magazine, Wilderness House Literary Review, Gone Lawn, and elsewhere. He’s also the founder and editor of the literary journal Trampset. His indie rock music is available on Apple Music and Spotify. Follow him on Twitter @scottneuffer @sneuffermusic @trampset
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