handout for the needy

she said today was like living
inside a bass drum that
had metal skins,

that it was like being screamed
at in tongues by an
android snake.

then she asked you if you
knew what she
meant,

you didn’t want to lose hold
of the fairy gauze
connecting you

both to the same room,
but you had no idea
what she meant.

you couldn’t imagine what a
snake would say
android or

otherwise, and what’s more
you really didn’t
want to

know even if she could explain.
and more than that
you were

grateful you couldn’t understand
the perverse rollick that
was in her head,

grateful you had no empathy to
offer.  and then all at once  
you realized she was

damaged goods.  you looked
with pity at her uncombed
hair. then filled                                    

yourself up with enough
charity to take her
hand,

pull her up from the floor,
and give her
a hug - suddenly

marveling at her breasts
against your
chest.

---

 © Kayt Hoch -all rights reserved; see details here for publication / use permissions.

the poem handout for the needy  by Kayt Hoch was first published in Barbaric Yawp, Vol. 9 No. 4, December 2005 - John Berbrich, editor