Penis Envy

Why would anyone envy one?

It’s such an ordinary little tool

good for aiming piss

and engendering small lumps

of protoplasm. Not one

has ever achieved anything

but common biological acts

unremarkable and repetitious.

Peshawar

Astonished once again by all the blood-

as if such murder in service of a madness

were new. It is as old as bludgeons and

testosterone. The automatic rifles

only make the suddenness and scale

more ruthless and efficient. Men are good

at this and little else.

Congratulate

yourself on the moral force of your

astonishment. Suppress the impulse

to see these bearded Others hung as grisly

ornaments from limbs of hanging trees

in misted forests of righteous retribution.

Do not pray for me 

unless your prayer, like meditation,

brings you clarity and purpose

other than your own sense of value

in a world that seems to mock your God

and your devotion to God

who is the God of your father

and the people you hang out with

Sundays at the Spectacle of God

and Jesus Christ of the Prosperity

of Those in God and Christ Redeemed

Fellowship,

LLP.

________________________________________________________

Work by Gary Hardaway has appeared at Gumball Poetry, Manifold, Silkworms Ink, Camroc Press Review, Connotation Press, Divine Dirt Quarterly, Cu.ren.cy, The Olentangy Review, Ochre and Umber, The Arlington Review, Eye Socket Journal, and Blue Fifth Review. He currently lives in Texas- his native state- and has earned his living as an urban planner and architect.