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- I fled the convenience store when I looked in the mirror
I fled the convenience store when I looked in the mirror
I fled the convenience store when I looked in the mirror
I noticed my own lackluster appearance
sleeves too long and collar flipped up,
the ceiling was falling apart from every upstairs footstep
I looked for my cassette tapes in a trash pile in the alley
saw the clouds part and even the blue sky opened up
to show the depth of dark outer space,
stars floated down to take me
to give me peace
but I didn't answer,
too confused to speak
someone dumped more garbage back there
it was a chance to find more stuff
hands got sore and tired and fell asleep
all I felt was tingling and eventually got used to it
a brick was missing in the wall
I reached in and found an old tattoo
a piece of peeled skin
the typical skull and flames
ribbons of fancy writing
I took the skin to the tattoo shop
without even a thank you they took it back
and put it in a file cabinet,
a short tan boy in a black shirt
pulled out a shotgun
and politely asked me to leave,
I had nowhere to go
I stood out on the sidewalk
I blended in with the kids lingering
by the bar bathrooms looking for a hookup,
all I could get was a hiccup
her breasts were bandaged
I knew where to find her pictures
we went to the tattoo shop
it was out of business already
a motorcycle was in the center of a trashed room
we both thought about how cool it would be
to own that motorcycle,
how cool it would be
to own anything at all
instead of just borrowing
or renting
or stealing
at all


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