By all the wrong numbers

By all the wrong numbers
(published in Gloom Cupboard's May 2011 edition)



I’ve been painted by
all the wrong numbers
and my lousy reputation
grows like wily tufts and tusks
from out of the hide
of some newly feral sow.
All these friendships,
still fresh in their decay,
in their state of disrepair,
they are mine to heal.
When I hear Patsy Cline,
I fall to pieces,
and like a damned fool,
I think I need this.