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.
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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.