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Poetry: Requests of a Betrayed Nobody by David Spicer

Requests of a Betrayed Nobody

by David Spicer

I no longer pretend you’re my angel
from Paradise, no longer pretend 
you’ll climb the ruffled ladder
of sunshine through the gates
of my rock ‘n’ roll Sunday. 
So, slap your Kafka tambourine 
across your knee under those crystal
trousers of yours, show me the scars
and seals of your forgotten Fridays—
if they’re good in your confetti
memories. Hire a choir to sing me
your anthem, but don’t sway
the suicide attempts, for I’m
stitching a quilt under the waterfall,
I want no guilt from you as you fly
your porcelain helicopter above 
the milkweed and it crashes 
weddings. I won’t play the flute,
I won’t roast the chestnuts 
as you rearrange the rope around my
neck. Uh uh. All I want is this: 
to roast you and your fellow pigs 
outside your owners’ mansion
on the hill by the polluted river.

About the author

David Spicer has published poems in The American Poetry Review, CircleStreet, Gargoyle, Moria, Oyster River Pages, Ploughshares, Remington Review, Santa Clara Review, The Sheepshead Review, Steam Ticket, Synaeresis, Third Wednesday, Yellow Mama, and elsewhere. Nominated for a Best of the Net four times and a Pushcart twice, he is author of six chapbooks and four full-length collections, the latest two being American Maniac (Hekate Publishing) and Confessional (Cyberwit.net). His fifth, Mad Sestina King, is forthcoming from FutureCycle Press. His website is www.davidspicer76.com.

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Created in 2014, Flashes is a privately owned literary website. We publish short stories, non-fiction, flash fiction and poetry. Our goal is to give talented writers a platform to showcase their creativity, with an emphasis on original voice, innovative style and challenging plots.
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