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Louis Postel

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The Shelter for Men

1.

 A man doubles over , falls headlong , a help wanted ad in his hand . Electrons buzz in orbit around him .
2.

 Sally, the Puerto Rican hustler remembers him this way : he was about fivefoot-five and had yellow teeth like his thing was sore . . .
3.
 Paper clouds slap against the sides of buildings . The word MENACE dances down the street .
4.

 A part-husky, part-wolf opens its jaws wide to take my head . A woman’s voice is gently asking me to switch off the kitchen light .
5.


 Showers of wet , crystal light rain down on the park’s equestrian statue . While in the darkness Prophetic Man wavers, wobbles drunk on the dividing line and is almost-hit again and again and again .
6.


 The peasantish woman pours a wooden slats bucket of ammonia water out the window, near where he lies, the one with the help wanted ad in his outstretched hand . Someone trips over the stare of his eyes .
7.


 The Terrible Finger on God’s Terrible Hand points my way in an ice-white sky . The peasantish woman scurries off down a street that’s much too big for her .

Page(s) 17

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