by CL Bledsoe
Goodness is another excuse
to do evil and sleep well,
after. It’s all a matter of color
coordination and needlepoint,
convincing the tiger to settle
for bean sprouts, the giant,
that magic beans don’t
exist. When it all gets too
loud, you can either try to out-
scream the noise machines
or dig out your ears. Yes,
it’s not fair. Yes, it’s not
nice. A man walks from end
to end of the great hall, folder,
in hand. He has all the answers
to sustain you. As his feet
thicken and his legs tire,
he passes door after door, all
closed. Behind each, the new
world celebrates itself without us.
Raised on a rice and catfish farm in eastern Arkansas, CL Bledsoe is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the poetry collections Riceland, Trashcans in Love, Grief Bacon, and his newest, The Bottle Episode, as well as his latest novels Goodbye, Mr. Lonely and The Saviors. Bledsoe co-writes the humor blog How to Even, with Michael Gushue located here: https://medium.com/@howtoeven His own blog, Not Another TV Dad, is located here: https://medium.com/@clbledsoe He’s been published in hundreds of journals, newspapers, and websites that you’ve probably never heard of. Bledsoe lives in northern Virginia with his daughter.
Emerge Literary Journal 