Howie Good



FAMOUS FOOTWEAR

Seven people dead, the news said.
I study the coolly swaying hips
of the woman walking in front of me.
This is all the music there is.
Or maybe this music is all there is.
See the difference? A lone baby shoe
at the entrance to a dark alley.




DOG’S BREATH

I open my mouth under the faucet. The water tastes distinctly of human smoke. An hour later, the dog pukes all over the floor. I dash outside but forget why when I see the across-the-street neighbor pointing and laughing. Time to move, I yell up the stairs to my wife. She doesn’t answer. So this is how it happens, I think. Everywhere I look there are skeletons with the skin still on.



Howie Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, is the author of the new poetry collection, Dreaming in Red, from Right Hand Pointing. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to a crisis center, which you can read about here: https://sites.google.com/site/rhplanding/howie-good-dreaming-in-red
 
 
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