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on the banana boat
unknown

nicodemus
 1
stole a little-debbie truck
 2
from in front of a gas station
 3
while on a whiskey bender.
 4
 
 
once you've
 5
crossed a certain line
 6
it's hard to be satisfied
 7
with jesus
 8
and the wisdom of middle managers,
 9
he told me
 10
one night
 11
during a bout of insomnia
 12
at the correctional facility.
 13
 
 
he never talked about it
 14
but his file
 15
said he was president of a bank
 16
until his wife
 17
drowned their newborn daughter
 18
and hung herself
 19
from an attic rafter
 20
in ninety-seven.
 21
 
 
see you
 22
on the banana boat chief,
 23
he said to me
 24
the day
 25
he discharged.
 26
 
 
that was
 27
a few
 28
months ago.
 29
 
 
this morning
 30
my newspaper says
 31
he's been shot to death
 32
trying to break into a
 33
pharmacy drive through window
 34
with a sledgehammer.
 35

3 Jul 09

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Comments:

Excellent story. I don't know that it's been turned into a poem well though. It feels like it could be told better as prose.
 — Ananke

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