What Rough Beast | Poem for October 10, 2017

David P. Miller
What Would He Do

He buddy-buddies the moneylenders
back to the temple. They cough up
for catering. Phenomenal deal on fishsticks
and day-old loaves by the gross.

He snatches a selfie with Lazarus,
fakes his arms and legs all rigor mortis,
pulls a cadaver face for guffaws.

He corners the market on ointment
for his beauty swim in the alabaster pool.
They dry him with their hair
‘cause he’s their only boy 4eva.

He digs that the gal caught cheating
is easy. But that redhead sobbing
on the summit of skulls
is definitely way hotter. Oh yeah.

He rolls the rock back to the tomb,
branded with his platinum name.
There’s a great aftermarket for shrouds.

He gawks all the kingdoms of the world
in a jiffy, nothing flat. He jumps, expecting
the help will keep his feet from striking rock.

 

David P. Miller is the author of The Afterimages (Červená Barva Press, 2014). His poems have appeared in Meat for Tea, Main Street Rag, Ibbetson Street, riverbabble, Muddy River Poetry Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, Painters and Poets, Fox Chase Review, Third Wednesday, Oddball Magazine, Incessant Pipe, Lyrical Somerville, and Ekphrastic Review, among others. His poem “Kneeling Woman and Dog” was included in the 2015 edition of Best Indie Lit New England. David was a member of the multidisciplinary Mobius Artists Group of Boston for 25 years, and is a librarian at Curry College in Milton, Mass.

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