If I can pick up this shoe
Tie my shoelaces
Take an aspirin and shave
Drink black coffee
And have a good shit
Take another aspirin
And cold medicine to clear
My fogged and fucked up head
Wrap a bright tie
With the red and white stripes
Of the barber surgeon
Around my neck, try not
To think about hanging myself
If I can just make it
To my car and there’s enough
Gas to make it to work
Where I can hide in my tiny cubicle
Then I can make it through this day.

Gary Bloom grew up in Minneapolis and attended Mankato (Minnesota) State University. He has been writing articles, short stories, and poetry for more than twenty years with credits in newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently has poems on the websites Strong Verse and Punchnel’s. After retiring from work as a database administrator he now spends his time writing and traveling. He lives in Pass Christian, Mississippi.