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"Albatross", "Store", & "The Devil Comes Around In the Winter" by Rami Obeid

Albatross


And what came from all that we had / I stay cocooned in piano keys, waiting for someone to come and bring music to me, even though I have the tools / the keys remain untouched and so do I / the piano stays in the desolate part of the room in an even more desolate house / beyond this house is something in which I cannot comprehend /

Please never let me get sentimental

Keep all of my fundamentals confidential




Store





There is always

an ebb and flow

of being okay


Yesterday I almost broke down—

crying – on the way to the store


And by night fall

I was king of my bedroom



The Devil Comes Around In The Winter


1.

My robe rests in downtown cities;

To attain full peace is deemed far away


My robe rests in Brussels;

Where chocolates are formulated to induce great pleasure in the people


My robe rests in the plains of Alberta;

Where I dream to travel to like it’s not a big deal


My robe rests in cold fruit

Where cold fruit replaces warm fruit; I don’t feel like throwing it back up


My robe rests in government offices;

Where I don’t have to be there to take a handout


My robe rests in the Middle East;

Where I can be sent back to see how traditional the work can be


My robe rests in old tax forms;

Where I am scared to move forward; it is easier to fall down than to stand up


My robe rests in the disease of the left side of my body;

I get palpations from thinking because I have too many speeding tickets


2.


Should I choose to indulge,

Would you stop me before it's too late?


Should I choose to inject lead,

Would you shove erasers down my throat?


Should I choose to give it all up for that girl,

Would you take me to the park to do something else?


Should I choose to reach for hell,

Would you grab my wrists and pull?


Should I choose to lay in smoke,

Would you throw water on me or gasoline?


Would you leave me for something better,

Should I promise not to cry about it?



3.


It doesn't matter

If I run out of mints now-

I'll sleep good tonight

But things won’t be fresh

At all



Rami Obeid is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His work has been published across multiple online and print publications. His chapbook “Marooned on the Shores of Malaise” is currently available from Whispering Wick Chapbook Press. You can follow him on twitter @obeid_ro

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