Submissions by broostafer (John Paul)

You started collecting secrets when you were just six years old.  They piled up by the time you turned seventeen.  Then on they went.  

Drunk with plans to destroy the world.  Destroying what needs to be destroyed.  First, the politics, then the philosophies, theologies, and all the rest.  
In a dim motel room, with the written word before you.  Typing keys that produce a new world.  

In your stupor, you cross the gateway.  Wanting to go further than the fire can lift. Erasing the rules.  The blank page sprouts.

The secret to killing a man is making him the...

The little boy can’t be more than 10 years of age
His eyes are wide with terror
He is afraid
There are tears in his eyes
His mouth is wide open
Screaming for his life
Clothed only in his underwear
He sprints towards his frightened father
My finger holds down the trigger
A trail of my bullets approaches the heels of the child
The child’s innocence does not register in my brain
All I can grasp are the words heard moments earlier
“Seale’s hit!”
They shouted
“Seale’s hit in the head!
Seale’s hit in the head!”
How could they shoot...

Dear Dad,
I respect the way you let them think you were the hustled and not the hustler.  Sinking the 8-ball with your crutch.  Taking their cash for the next rounds.
Victory is a buzz that stays with you.
Cheers,

Her dust brown skin puts shine on her dark eyes and hair  
     Thrilled by the thought of a Mexican mistress
     By the thought of her being that mistress
     I approach
     “Tue eres muy bonita”
     Such beauty
     “Fifty dollars fuck; twenty dollars suck”
     She evokes the still corner
       The magic of the streetlights
     The dew on the quiet bus stop
     Peacefulness in the midst of war
     Her soul is pure
     Her memory burnt into my heart
     The treasure of her breath
     It deserves a thousand ships