five poems
by Scott C. Holstad
Waz Sa1d ///b1nary///
H1z scruffy Streetw1se P0emz 0f Beat Un1versal Pers0nal darknezz N0t f0r weak D1sturbed s0ul Half-remembered n1ghtmarez Psych1atr1c su1c1de ja!1 Pu1!zer 1 cr1ed Became Nause0uz Sweet Amer1can Psych0 1nf1!ctz psych1c w0undz
Return to Love
i returned to the club
in complete and utter
desolation, unable to think
clearly and i saw the
usual herd of them over
in the corner looking like
so many empty beer
bottles floating in scum
covered rainwater and
one of them came up to
me all leatherbound and
rouged in black and said
well boy
you look like you need
something strong
now we can do
you or we can
kill you
i can be your
boy or i can
be your girl.
what’ll it be?
i looked in the
corner and saw a
man on his knees
head bobbing wildly
and i watched when
they slit his throat
at the climax and i
wondered how to get
out of this hell back to
the land of the living
dead and i closed my
eyes and whispered
your choice
[Originally published in defunct magazine Bukowski & Serial Killers, 1992]
reformed recidivist surprizes
do they need to panic death dream isolation fault tolerant ex-systems
[via Cut-Up method]
killing is an art redux
girl with ectoplasmic
protojizm floating
around her head halo
like flies by slowly
‘n
man with oversized
black kam takes
photopic then
whips undersized
sad/funny cock out
starts weakly
beating off
herky jerky
// is this love //
slit eyes squint
shut to avoid
slobber deep
tongue contact
wait
what do you mean
eye
sold my soul
there years ago
an’ anyway
it’s hotter
n’ shit
in here
C0DE: PHILOSOPHY OR REALITY?
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Photo of Scott C. Holstad
BIO: Scott C. Holstad has authored 60+ books & has appeared in the Minnesota Review, Exquisite Corpse, Long Shot, Pacific Review, Santa Clara Review, Wormwood Review, Chiron Review, Palo Alto Review, Bukowski & Serial Killers, Sivullinen, Kerouac Connection, Processed World, Main Street Rag, A Sufferer's Digest, Horror Sleaze Trash, Libre, The Beatnik Cowboy, Bristol Noir, Misfit, Eulogy Press, dadakuku, miniMAG, Blood+Honey & 800+ other publications.
He’s used up his 9 lives twice, is now on his 3rd set & is worried he may actually be immortal. He’s moved 40+ times & now lives near Gettysburg, PA.