Kyle Flak

TRYING TO GO BOWLING

i am trying to go bowling
who will help me go bowling
the sun shining like outside there is a day there
i put my hands on my hips and
remark on the emptiness most humans feel
when confronted by a glass of milk
in an empty house
still trying to go bowling here, heh-hem heh-hem
look at my pajamas rather nervously from a distance hilarious stranger
i am writing to from a desk in outer space i mean west michigan
outside: a slow turtle on the sidewalk
is he memorizing where ants are
so that he can go visit the ones he likes
later someday when he is older
and less cocksure
i won't bother to answer that question
though still hardly bowling at all
trying not to be terrified by phantoms
i butter my bread with an award ribbon
yesteryear is the place to be
inch your way forward
i will stay here at my desk trying to go bowling
my mom slides a sandwich under the door
like i am worth
all of her laundry money in the world
hello mom hello help me go bowling please thanks

---

NOVELISTS ARE JUST REALLY MEAN ROBOTS WITH BAD BREATH WHO WANT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT AND STEAL ALL OF YOUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS

the time when amanda put her whole head in my lap and
waited for me to grab her or something.
the time when i purposely tripped and fell on her parent's driveway hoping she'd offer me
a slender arm
and not follow the others into the house. . . .
i was there on both of those days!
so paste a bright pink or purple valentine's day heart on my head
and call me a hopeless charlie chaplin from the hit movie city lights. . . .
i can't believe my feelings are actually this exciting to talk about!
i don't believe my feelings are actually this exciting to talk about!
i guess the kind of life i have always wanted
for myself involves going fishing without actually
harming any fish.
i guess that is called "loafing around near a riverbank."
very well, then.
i am going to go loaf around near a riverbank.
bye!

You might remember KYLE FLAK from the time he played the role of Mikey in a Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School theater production of Rod Serling's teleplay "The Messiah on Mott Street." He also has a book out and a chapbook out, but hey why not read all of Turgenev instead for free as many times as you like at your local public library where I might be working if you happen to live near where I do???