Zachary LaMalfa

REALISM

It was mostly sand

and questions like

what is painting?

It snuck up on you

found you by the post office

hissing “pay attention”

It came first from the workshop

then from the cafeterias

it was angry and addicted to milk

It didn’t like you

it hid most of the time

you found it in wheat fields gnawing on stalks

It smelled good

in truth it smelled very good

and it held my hand when I was scared

It wore glasses

perfectly circular black glasses

it had average-to-poor vision

It rode the bus

actually I think it took the commuter shuttle

actually it mostly walked

It stroked its beard while thinking

it scratched its head while speaking and thinking at the same time

its eyes said “sorry I wasn’t listening”

It was like the moon

because the moon is big and full of holes

it was like the moon that way

It was sort of an alcoholic

it poured red on top of white wine dregs

it was a full blown alcoholic

It identified itself with essays

it identified itself with the essays it wrote

its essays were all about Balzac

It was pure though

at least it was pure

if nothing else it was pure pure pure

It at one time had a job

at one time it had some kids

they live in Los Angeles now

Zachary LaMalfa is a writer and teacher. His recent work can be found in The Brooklyn Rail, Works & Days, Volume, For Starters: An Anthology of Prompts, and elsewhere. A Course in Human Love, a chapbook of early poems, appeared in 2022 from Malvina House.