location location location - jeff shepard

                  they opened a new restaurant here in beaver, ut.
                  no one wants to eat there.

                  someone said the owner/chef
                 "ain't from around these parts,
                  he's gay,
                  has aids,
                  what if he cuts his finger while he's making you a sandwich"?

                  rumors fly,
                  he should have done his research.

                  to think he could stay in business
                  in this homophobic mormon town
                  he must be a dunce as well.

                  they didn't name this town "beaver" for nothing.

got arrested for public intox instead -Justin Hyde

when i was seventeen

dad drove me to a bicycle race

in illinois.

mom must have set it up

because he and i together

was not

normal protocol.

i ended up winning

and there he was

taking pictures.

i’ll never forget

his knee high socks

and cut off jeans

leaning over the curb

with the camera.

six years later

drunk off my ass

at a strip club in davenport

for my best friend's

bachelor party

one of those places

where you bring your own cooler

and fold dollar bills

like tents.

i don't know why

but being there

made me want to call dad

and tell him

i remembered that day.

how it was important to me.

someone gave me their cell

the bathroom stall didn’t have a door

so i huddled in the corner

and started dialing

when i remembered

he was supposed to be the one

eventually

making a call like this.

how i was going to hang up on him

when he did.