Two Poems
Richard King Perkins II How Twin Peaks Almost Killed Me I was not working by choice, eating two slices of sausage pizza a day, sometimes toast. Somehow, I held on to enough money from my unemployment check to buy some Twin Peaks merchandise from a mail-order catalog not long after the series had been canceled. A few weeks later the post office left a note telling me to come pick-up my stuff. Walking back from the post office, I was lost in my petty gluttony and forgot that my route took me past the four thousand student high school just as the kids were getting out. Two girls walked down the eroded sidewalk in front of me, but looked back in alarm through me at a slowly driving conversion van. The girls hit the ground when they saw the gun come up to the window. I just stood there and tried to become invisible. What could have been the last scene of my life must have been directed by Frank Capra and not David Lynch, because a police cruiser drove past at that moment. The van pulled away without ever firing a shot. I helped the girls to their feet and we shared the worst sort of smile humans can ever share. The Desirable Symmetry of Your Features Is a Rarity among Humans I wanted to write the editor and tell her The desirable symmetry of your features is a rarity among humans but it seemed kind of creepy so I didn’t. It’s taken me a long time to learn about restraint and boundaries and knowing when I have to be prudent even when I’m being completely earnest. Besides, it wasn’t like I was going to tell her something she didn’t already know. |
About the author:
Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart nominee and a Best of the Net nominee. Writing for six years, his work has appeared in more than a thousand publications including The Louisiana Review, Bluestem, Emrys Journal, Sierra Nevada Review, Roanoke Review, The Red Cedar Review and Crannog. He has poems forthcoming in The William and Mary Review, Sugar House Review, Plainsongs, Free State Review and Milkfist. He was a recent finalist in The Blue Bonnet Review Spring Poetry, The Rash Awards, Sharkpack Alchemy, Writer’s Digest and Bacopa Literary Review poetry contests. |