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asked to recite one night stood up
with a tremble in my voice I was
a little nervous of course my throat
scratchy and hoarse facing the audience
all eyes center stage opening the book
clearing my parched dry throat I turned to
the page where I wrote Manic Flow
after taking a few sips from a water glass
of spritzer I took a deep breath letting out
a roar like a wounded lion in pain
word for word verbatim vibrating
in epic proportion gripping the sides
of the podium feeling the momentum
the crowd went silent I no longer cared
who was listening to my facet leaking
while rusty pipes were knocking
no longer shameful of the roaches
crawling out of the cupboard falling
into the glass of milk I poured and left
on the table next to the catchup sandwich
the cat was out the bag the dog was
outback tied to a tree the mouse was
caught on a trap the whole house heard
the snap in to deep no turning back
feeling the words coming out of the trap
mouth cut so deep you could reach in
take an organ out I felt heavily sedated
in a trance the curtains drew to a close
audiance in stitches from deep incisions
to their feet they rose it felt as if I was
the only one who wasn't wearing clothes
