“Paranoid Love Song” by Tom C. Hunley

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As if I’ve never seen you smile at my
friends right in front of my face, which I
straightened with all my strength.
As if I weren’t receiving daily phone calls
from my future self warning me of potholes
that I step in anyway because how do I know
my future self isn’t fucking with me?
I know myself, and it’s the kind of thing
I’d do. As if I could be king and you
could be queen, which David Bowie promised
but did he mean you and me?
Who’s been calling your cell, verse one.
Your hand on my best friend’s knee,
come on and admit it, verse two.
As if I say all this to you and you say
as if. As if I was a werewolf but now
I’m Scott again, and I say I’m sorry
I about bit your head off back there.
As if I could become your pet parrot and call
your new boyfriend Cracker, his penis peanut.
As if my heart darkened and you opened
the window blinds to make a sunlight square
to soak it in. As if you would ever leave me
for Richard Dawson. He kisses every female
Family Feud contestant. When I close my eyes
all I see are fruit flies. When they close their eyes
all they see is garbage. The garbage truck comes
with screeching brakes while they’re sleeping
and they wake bereft. Buzzing and banging heads
against screen doors. Like me after the inevitable
bull comes charging at me. After you’ve left.

–Tom C. Hunley,
Scotch Tape World
Accents Publishing

Tom Hunley

Tom C. Hunley is an associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University and the director of Steel Toe Books. Among his previous books are The Poetry Gymnasium (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012); Annoyed Grunt (Imaginary Friend Press, 2012); Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2010, Gold Invitational Series); Octopus (Logan House, 2008, Winner of the Holland Prize); Teaching Poetry Writing: A Five-Canon Approach (Multilingual Matters LTD., 2007, New Writing Viewpoints Series); My Life as a Minor Character (Pecan Grove, 2005, winner of a national chapbook contest); Still, There’s a Glimmer (WordTech Editions, 2004); and The Tongue (Wind Publications, 2004). He divides his time between Kansas and Oz.

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