2 poems || Chuck Leary

a-1:  the amanuensis

 

pete had left the door ajar.

after all johnny had told him.

pete was addicted to aggravation.

it was awful.

pete had appropriated johnny's soul months ago and threatened to devour it.

pete was known on the street as beelzebub and queenie mae.

he was an acquired taste.

johnny went over to the sink and made his ablutions.

pete's asshole was purple.

everything had been arranged beforehand by "them"

aargh!!

"you think it's all a big joke, don't you?"

it was all over and they both knew it.

***

a-ok.  everything was a-ok.

johnny was actually pleased to be back in his old room.

it was easy to become acclimated to his old bourgeois life.

he would become his own amanuensis again.

maybe a teachers aide.

everything augured well.

johnny fell asleep and dreamed of cutting down a gigantic carrot with an axe.

the carrot turned into an even more gigantic asshole.

the villagers never heard a thing while abutting the giant carrot/asshole.

aerosol cans are purple on mars, red on jupiter.

the space patrol apprehended johnny just as he was making his getaway.

i'm just an average guy, he told them.

absolutely, you can trust me.

***

a-2:  appreciation

johnny liked artichokes, especially in his salads.

he had a big appetite when he arrived at the restaurant.

aunt ruth had aged appreciably.

uncle bob ambled over to the table.

he had had an operation on his aorta.

the aorta is adjacent to the pulmonary arteries.

aunt ruth and uncle bob sincerely appreciated johnny's presence.

aha! cried aunt ruth when she saw corinne enter.

they had a good laugh about all the good times they had.

avarice sparkled in corinne's brown eyes.

her students called her the ayatollah.

her teaching aides didn't like her much either.

ahem, muttered uncle bob. (he was old school,  he actually said "ahem")

***

this is awful, thought johnny

aye, aye - johnny had a dream about blackbeard the pirate

his arrogance got him into hot water on more than one occasion

you have an attitude, do you know that?

it was axiomatic

the bird flew away in its aeronautical way

johnny had nothing to add to the conversation

she was apparently an altered  taste

the sky that the bird flew away in was a really azure blue

aaaaaaaah

a seizure

attention please!

please pick up after yourselves - your mother does not live here!

***

all aboard!

aggravating, isn't it? - the man folded his newspaper and turned to cynthia as the train pulled away.