Kevin R. Farrell, Jr.: Purgatory

Photo: Joanna C. Valente

Welcome

I pulled out a holy water gun 
at a neighbors pool party 

and pressed it to my temple 
demanding to speak to god,

what makes this house a happy home,
central air,

discounted sun screen, 
time sensored lawn sprinklers,

Grandpa called,
he wants his namesake back,

you embarrassed the crowds in you,
you’re an island of misfits stuffed to the gills,

the stench of your ego is rank and vile,
you’re the halfway house of my dreams,

purgatory,
night sweats,

burdened hope,
chemical persuasions,

brainwashed patterns of abuse,
it’s gut wrenching.

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Kevin R. Farrell, Jr. is a New York based artist, poet, and educator whose work has been published in Rumble Fish Quarterly, Adroit Journal, Terror House Magazine, Former People, Blakelight Magazine, Visitant Lit, Ink in Thirds Magazine, Indiana Voice Journal, and Foxhole Magazine. His work attempts to capture life from the vantage point of someone in the backseat of a stolen car running on fumes. His poems are a play on words in the form of political, satirical, surrealist, tongue in cheek rants that often border on stream of consciousness ramblings that are a last ditch effort at taking it all in before we get taken out.