COLD TURKEY (poem)

My fingernails
They swam up to your house
And they woke up your parents
And then your parents asked
Is that Jim? Is that the guy, that fucker Jim?
Is he bothering you again?
You said No, that’s just his fish hiding underneath his fingernails.
Why, that goddamn fish!
Oh, and I called you up on the telephone
And I asked you who I am and you didn’t know.

Your brother answered the door and let me in
Even after I ate all the leftover turkey
You know, in the fridge, last summer.
I still remember that and I’m really sorry.

And so I came in
I could smell your perfume.
I walked up the stairs, biting my fingernails.
While you were in your room, peeling wallpaper from your wall
And eating it

I walked into your room and you smiled at the fish underneath my fingernails.
But you didn't smile at me.
I said, I'm sorry I woke your parents.
They remembered that I ate all the leftover turkey
You know, the turkey that was in the fridge last summer.
It was good turkey.
I’m sorry about that.

Then you smiled at me
And the fish swam away.