Another Way to Go (Court-Appointed Lawyer)

Michael Prihoda

 

which day

                am                         i

 

                waiting for         again?

 

you know how kids

are fascinated

 

by how many paper clips

it takes to connect the moon

                               

                                and a random point along Earth’s

 

                                                equator?

 

                                let’s try that magic

                                                with Habeas Corpus paperwork.

 

i’m ready for                      death

                                                                by one thousand

                                                                cuts.

 

                look me

                in the eye

 

                                i’ll blink

                                so goddamn

                                fast

 

                                                you’ll think

                                                there’s a strobe light

                                               

 

                where God promised

                an optic nerve.

 

 

***

Michael Prihoda lives in central Indiana. He is the founding editor of After the Pause, an experimental literary magazine and small press. His work has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net Anthology and he is the author of nine poetry collections, most recently Out of the Sky (Hester Glock, 2019).