five poems

by Nathan Nicolau

“We’re Not So Different, You and I”

Meaty arms sharing sweat with villains.

Flying spit drowning from villains.

Put off the put-ons and take a waltz

with the phonies who call themselves villains.

Punch the cool air backward and chant

in a town full of heroes and villains

while choking the melody and lying there

too bothered to fight your inner villains.

Called it shame, regret, or “cringe,” 

our victims now willingly sit next to villains

to let the psychopathic vampires suck the rizz

from our tongues so we can’t seduce the villains.

It’s all a ruse to get us to stay in movie theaters

when the blood-soaked hero asks, “Was I the real villain?”

2014 to 2019 Poetic Sketch

(In Spirit of Frank O’Hara’s “Poem”)

There’s a water park in Flint!

I was driving down the highway

with the kids in the back trying to find

lunch, but all the restaurants were closed,

and here comes the tall plastic slides looking

so dry, and that’s when I shouted

There’s a water park in Flint!

And then the kids asked why

wouldn’t there be a water park in Flint,

and I asked if they wanted a water bottle,

and they said no, but it wasn’t for drinking,

it was for swimming because

There’s a water park in Flint

and we’re going to play there.

Splash splish sploosh glug glug.

Want this empty bottle?

If E.E. Cummings Were a Cowboy,

There Would Be a Whole Lot of Dead Horses

Actually,

Buffalo Bill

never came riding—

he took a breather at the local bp station to douse

$5 gasoline on the kids.

Stopping him would be like explaining

Dali

to someone with synesthesia.

            But even then, all you would have to say is

no

Putting the Cat Down Blues

Could you imagine

              if everyone that complained about free things

                             in life had to hand over the keys to their golf carts?

Then we wouldn’t have any more shattered windows,

              stray golf balls in my living room,

                              and no more

                              “Would you like to be in the room when it happens?”

Ben Shapiro and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

on the South Border of Texas

Here’s a headline for you:

I’m young! I’m hip! I’m easy! What do I know?

Tell me!

I know how to say “no” in 20 different languages and only nine

                                                                     (German)

of them can I use.

Did you know there’s no way to say “no” in Texas?

Coat sales are up because of it, and it’s not even winter.

Just buy the ugliest Grandma coat you can and throw it to the orphans.

The hanger is a hot commodity. Why do they make them so cheap now?

Plastic doesn’t feel good on skin, and metal tastes better.

Anyway, if I say “no,” not only will people hear me,

but I’ll get a couple of Facebook posts,

 a truck to take me home,

and a free appearance on Fox News as a consolation prize.

Make sure my hair’s dyed. People have to know who I voted for.

                            They need a good target from 6 feet away.

             I prefer red. It’ll match my FTM packer.

                        What’s an FTM packer?

                                          The Arctic Monkey’s fourth album.

Did you hear AOC OD’d FDA’s PCP GOP?

            Rant about it in the car.

                           I’ll get the camera; you get the guns.

I’ll put the ring light above you so people can see the spit flying.

             Turn up the heat in here.

                           You love the winter—the snowflakes fall.

                           I hate the winter—the bodies freeze over.

Photo of Nathan Nicolau

BIO: Nathan Nicolau is a writer and poet based in Charlotte, NC. His fiction, poetry, and essays have been featured in numerous publications. His books can be found on Amazon. Find out more about him at nathannicolau.com.