four poems
by Maceo Nightingale
MERRY CHRISTMAS WOODEN PIG
Schizophrenics ran around a grass field,
Take off your helmet and suck the quarterback’s foot.
Sweaty ingrown toenails grew above buildings
Leather football got tossed into goth hands,
Blood leaked out the glove compartment
And berries on the tree
lead the mind into a blue alley,
A cat crawled along the bones
of a dead Vietnam veteran,
Worms slithered through broken kneecaps.
Another boy saw the light of
day running through a beat down
strip club, danced
for a dollar in return for
half cooked philosophy.
Take the lady with a penis
Over the gentleman wearing expensive clothes
And the night sky rumbled from the
dog tail of the shrimp.
The perverts want the hand in marriage
But the ring doesn’t fit the condom.
Say goodbye to the baby shooting
turtle juice into the veins
And the parents complained
about a can of beans and cat food.
SOUR CREAM SHOWER
The cat crawled into the toilet, balloon from outer space
And rain drops creeped through the pink window.
Sat on the couch, clipped toenails
Feet smelled like Gloria’s hands on a Friday night.
Pubic hairs in a shoebox,
Scrolled through dating apps, head shoved down a blender
And the cat crawled out of the toilet
Walked by the beach, hoped for sour cream showers
And a pistol tucked below the waist.
The fat nose of wood,
boogers dripped passionately
With a mouth full of butter and
A misogynist reading feminist magazines.
Say goodbye to the days of apathy,
The trees on the leaf grew kindly
To bring him down is impossible,
He wept for nothing.
Who is to blame when technology makes
your hands shrink to dead ants
And a lady sang the blues of comparison.
Stood up from the couch,
stuck a finger up the crack and licked a lollipop.
Gumdrop of doom’s silver mask,
Chopped up samples with green hands.
VIVA LA SCHIZOPHRENIA
Naked body, shower ran on wheels
Ate a bowl of nose eye cereal,
Rubbed milk into long curly hair
Till the hot water poured down
Blind people played cards.
Stole grandpas credit card,
Bought a new pair of squeaky
strawberry
shoes.
Walked from Coach Sarafian Avenue
To the bright lights of Viva La Schizophrenia.
Tall midget drank water, unzipped blueberry pants
And the stinky feet sniffed by the nose of death.
Black toes curled up on the bed
A hand rested on the skinny thigh
Bananas sold at the rinky dink market.
The elephants nuts sliced off, bloody knife,
Mental hospital screamed at an unpaid lawyer.
First thing to do with that money
is get a nice bag of peanuts
and eat them
in an Italian restaurant.
Guacamole and a man named Susan
Goth tattoos covered the hairy leg
And long brown hair curled to the sea.
Boat sailed to the ocean of rubber fish
12 rounds in the ring with a straight man,
By the end of a fight, a gay man.
GODDESS OF SHRIMP CITY
7 foot tall, long purple hair flowed down to the ground.
The goddess of shrimp city walked the streets
on wooden high heels,
Picked up a rich real estate agent
and stuffed him into her purse
And a psych ward saxophone creeped
up on yellow taxi cabs.
A night stroll through the park,
Dreams of becoming a pro wrestler
turned to eating shrimp tacos.
Sat on a bench and threw peanuts at elephants,
Wee small children rolled by on skateboards
And a gambling addict jumped out the apartment
window and fell face first into the casino’s bathroom.
Tinkering tits of gold struck the clock
Victimizing oneself makes depression
swallow the mind at midnight
And the goddess of shrimp city
danced in a club with corkscrew bananas.
Purple hair stuck out the cracked door,
Security guards checked for fake IDs.
Fake mustache and black wig,
Nose clogged with hairs.
Glass of vampire blood for
a sword swallower.
Photo of Maceo Nightingale
BIO: Maceo Nightingale lives in California with his pet fish.