Sleeping With A Murderer

[Sister Greed]

The wall heater fan blows

Through nicotine covered blades

Comfort and disgust

Howard sleeps in the other room

A murderer




I have a voice

That drowns in feeble attempts

To find common ground

Prison talk

Wears my spirit down




Keys dangle and jangle

With con stories followed by

A con laugh

Followed by con stories

Rat tat tat

He reeks of felon in my home




A shaved head

His battle with bladder cancer

Eyes behind coke bottles dancing

The ultimate hustler

A tin shed with pinholes for stars




Is where I found him

Drip drops the rain on penetentiary scars

Two cats and a storage shed

Walt Disney collectibles

And stained glass butterflies




One sits on my window sill

Watching for danger

[grant hayes]

Strewth, Sister, you've graced the Zone with a real wonder here. The repetition of 'con', the knowing music of 'reeks of felon' and battle/bladder and 'pinholes for stars', the whole fifth stanza....oodles of poetic goodness here. Simply brilliant, Sister Greed. I love this poem. If I could write like this I'd die happy.

[Sister Greed]

Grant, my response is below. I’m honored.

[Sister Greed]

Grant, I’m beaming from ear to ear! Thank you. I respect you so much, a comment like yours is overwhelming. Thank you.

[AlexandratheLate]

I could feel the tension and smell the stale air and sense of death. Great job SG.

[Sister Greed]

Thank you ATL!

[Tony Grannell]

Hello Sister Greed, Oh, so cold and hard a haunting emanates from this most splendid poem. Chandleresque, though aptly, without the smoothness. The profound doggedness to capture the scars of the scene makes this poem extraordinary. Very well done indeed. Fond regards, Tony.

[Sister Greed]

My thanks to you below.

[Sister Greed]

Thank you, Tony, for your kind comment!

[Bobby Del Boy]

I can only second, third and fourth what the above giants have expressed. A part of me wishes this never touched your imagination. Do you get what I’m saying?

[Sister Greed]

Bobby Del Boy, thank you for your awesome comment. I get what you’re saying...I think. I hate to be presumptuous. I had a moment like that with one of Grant’s poems.

[Katray]

---

Powerful imagery, Sister; the main character feels fearsome yet so vulnerable. And a sense of kindness or assistance extended often being related to unease, even hints of danger - a truism that is present in such situations yet buried or unacknowledged. You own the clarity! Very nice read.

[Sister Greed]

Thank you Katray!

[lunar glide]

Tin shed with pinholes for stars is an image ill always remember!

[Sister Greed]

Me too, lunar glide.

[RhymeLovingWriter]

Not sure what to add - your words paint pictures - with power.

[Sister Greed]

Thanks RLW! I hope you enjoyed the poem.

[Johntee]

Enjoy is too soft a word
for your verses. Made
thoughtful by the truth
and harshness of the
visions they encompass
is how I respond.

[Sister Greed]

Wow. Thank you Johntee. Thank you.