Shit Out Of Luck by Bruce Michael Foley

stepping-on-poop

SHIT OUT OF LUCK

If stepping in shit is good luck
I’d be well on my way to success by now.

Instead of this, I’ve grown accustom to
awkward smiles and people leaving rooms
when I enter, some, even offering up a seat
saying they were just about to leave anyway.

I once scraped it off, but now I just let it dry
then stomp my feet.

Often, I am seen with a stray dog or two
sniffing at my boot heels, then there are
days when it’s so wet and fresh with a strong
stench, not a few have lifted a hind leg to piss on me.

So, I applied for that swing shift opening
down at animal control.

I am told, if I don’t get assigned right away
to a truck that goes out on patrol,
a good start would be hosing down the kennels.

It’s all the same, either way to me.

I figure, if I am going to smell like
dog shit, might as well wear a uniform
and get paid.

indexI was born across the bridge from Boston, Massachusetts, in Cambridge, as July 4th fireworks exploded over the Charles River, just a stone’s throw from Harvard University. At age two, my family moved to Somerville, Ma.,where I was raised in a rough blue-collar environment, playing many sports. In 1998 I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, I work among special needs children and teach martial arts. Poetry began in high school, but took off in a more dedicated way in later years, along with resuming music studies, guitar. My poems are published in various anthologies; including Impressions, Prism, and the Mighty Voices Of Thunder Series, sponsored by the international poetry website, “Allpoetry.” I was a featured poet in Lyrical Somerville February 2015, a Boston based publication, as well as being an “Editor’s Front Page Pick,” for the month of March 2016 on Allpoetry. A defining moment that contributed significantly to further interest in writing was a First Place Award from the International Poetry Fellowship, for my poem, “Among Fields of Cotton.” Presently, I am happy to have the opportunity to explore various forms of poetry with Mr. Bruce Isaacson, Poet Laureate of Clark County Nevada.

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