Marionette for months,
dead-toed. Sometime slumber,
then the nerve gripped
like a gymnast.
The country whip of
a stud’s throttling kick,
a blinding switch
the lower back flips.
Shower’s scalding narcotic,
bed weak medicine.
All the dared dosages
no coda
for the one word chorus
of the condition:
some alien kingdom
I soldiered through.
Max Heinegg is a high school English teacher, the co-founder and brewmaster of Medford Brewing Company, and a singer-songwriter whose records can be heard at www.maxheinegg.com
His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Nets, and he’s been a finalist for the poetry prizes of Crab Creek Review, December Magazine, Rougarou Journal, Cultural Weekly, Cutthroat, and Nazim Hikmet.