Darrell Petska

Rest Stop at the BP

             Adams
toting                   lumber
            jack pine
ponderosa
                       loblolly
Paul Bunyan meet
            Pee-wee Herman
Kong dong ding
                   sissy sinks
spittooey             monsieur
          coiffure
                    chest thumping
v-necked
                 gorilla guts
                            shhhhh—

  through the looking
             glass
             lightly
             spritzed

              Eves
      flush        and
puff their breasts     coo
      coo               coo



Last Words
          "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." - Pancho Villa

1.
Refuse death             nothing is          worse than life.
Fight on                       the devil            waits in our cots.
Give no quarter       show mercy      only to your horse.

2.
Sofia. Isabella. Valentina. Julieta. Gabriela. Antonella.
Isidora. Fiorella. Fernanda. Natalia. Emilia. Lucia.
Romina. Manuela. Bianca. Elisa. Maria. Maria. Maria.

3.
Mesquite. Hawthorne. Holly. Acacia. Olive. Plum.
Rabbit. Fox. Bear. Lion. Buzzard. Eagle. Shrike.
Snake. Shark. Alligator. Hornet. Ant. Fly.

4.
Sycophants. Maligners. Imbeciles. Fools.
Nincompoops. Bastards. Blowhards. Pricks.
Neer-do-wells. Assholes. Tourists. Trolls.

5.
Looks like                   this                        is it.
Always wanted         to go out            on my horse.
Names                          Words                  It

6.
Nunc ornare, purus id lobortis.
Lacinia diam in nisi molestie, quis malesuada.
Amet nulla, aliquet et lorem, Achoo.



Night     Bus

space   debris
                 Dakota
  galaxy
                 stasis
equivocation
                 tuna
          chips
primordial
               hungers
        collidings
implosions
                    silent
   masked
                 nolo
       comprende
eyes
       trailing
                    buffalo
dreams
               twinklings
    floaters
                 aliens
havened          home

Darrell Petska retired after more than 30 years as an editor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before university life, he worked as a psychiatric tech/caseworker and nursing home evaluator. His poetry has appeared in Bolts of Silk, Red Fez, San Pedro River Review, Scissors & Spackle, Lummox, Verse Wisconsin, Blast Furnace and elsewhere.
 
 
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