A Short Prayer

By Hector Lopez Jaime

it’s on a morning like this,

the smell of last night’s barbecue lingering

uncomfortably in the air

with no memory of whether i threw up or not

my fingertips tingling & numb

knowing i’ll be twenty minutes late to work

not knowing i forgot my work shirt at home

just thinking about food is enough to make me

want to puke

& with me constantly feeling near the

verge of tears

that the drought of poems ends

i guess learning the hard way is something

i excel at, for example now

i know that mixing amaro & PBR

is a combination similar to ammonia & hydrogen peroxide

it leaves me with the feeling of a hangover

i don’t fully grasp til

it’s kicking at my throat

it reminds me of sucking dick only

i get no pleasure from this sensation

so far the new year has been treating me

with kicks to the ass & suicidal ideations

the same as its previous & now past sibling

these days melt into each other

let the poems break them apart

By Hector Lopez Jaime