diversion

the guy next door
is on his second
wife,
who smoked and drank
and shot up all throughout
her recent pregnancy
(she was checked into
rehab two weeks
after she gave birth).

he also, allegedly,
has custody of the
two young children from
his previous marriage.

this afternoon, while
i was trying to
watch some tv,
his ex-wife,
her current husband
and her big linebacker
of a brother
stood outside the
front yard gate
screaming and making
fist gestures
at him.

he also screamed
and made fist
gestures back and
claimed to
have a piece of
paper giving him
full custody of the two kids.

the children sat
in their mother’s car
looking remarkably
unafraid and bored.

the linebacker brother
outside the gate
threatened to involve
the cops and
made a blatant,
unveiled reference
to the drugs the
guy next door has
obviously been doing.

i quickly got tired of
it all so i closed the
blinds, sat back
on my couch and
flipped off the
television.

TV is
no longer
an effective diversion
when you live
next door to a
Jerry Springer
episode.

 

-published in Lummox Press