THE YEAR I WON THE LOTTO

that was the year I won the lotto
the year the best animal parts fell away
and I emerged, monstrously hairless,
my pale belly hanging
and my dick swinging like a spear

that year I learned to walk upright
and strutted the oily sand in bermuda shorts
and farted without apology
and cocked my hat to one side
and sucked vigorously the teat of righteous consumer glory,
snuggling ever deeper into its perfumed lap of luxury

that year I learned I deserved it all
based on passages from the word of god
and accepted my position of dominion
and killed the fatted corn fed calf
and stuffed my swollen belly with its flesh
while its sweet, hot fat dribbled down my chin
and solidified along the walls of my coronary arteries

that year I had all the young women
or tried to anyway,
buying them fine meals and jewelry
and getting very close to a roll in that magical, youth spun hay
until the wife smelled the truth
and became suddenly self righteous
as though she herself had not wallowed
in the sumptuous spa-like bath of decadence
the gods had so generously provided

that was the year the shit hit the fan,
the year she pulled out all the stops
and hired the better lawyer
and i fell like some sort of doomsday comet
burning through the stratosphere
like a goddamned steaming ball of white hot hell

the year i sold the Cadillac and the condo
and the Arnold Palmer Prestige irons
only to wind up here, watching your fine young butt
flit and waggle behind the bar
and wishing i was still a human being
and not just another tired old chump
worrying over this month's rent