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by Joseph Lezza
©2020  Anett Bulano                                                                                                                                                                                 "Wind and Ice"
IG:  @a.bulano.abstracts

Joseph Lezza is a writer in New York, NY, and he holds an MFA in creative writing from The University of Texas at El Paso.  His work has been featured in The Pointed CircleThe HopperStoneboat Literary JournalStill: The JournalFearsome CrittersRio Grande ReviewCleaning Up Glitter as well as on Thought Catalog. When he’s not writing, he spends his time worrying about why he’s not writing. His website is www.josephlezza.com and you can find him on the socials @lezzdoothis. 
All the Broken Men

​I’ve never been one for thrift 
stores, convalescent homes for threadbare 
sentiment, moth-eaten & marinated 

in a funk of cedar & decay. I smelled it 
on you, there 
next to a mossy outcropping of cardigans.

Li’l Cowboy, precious, porcelain
hat tipped, throwing shadow over
quiet eyes, noisy with damage.

Something about you felt 
second-hand, marked down emotion 
confused for clutter by a buyer unwilling 

to see the dollars for the change.
Sniffing around for a better deal
wears out the soul. Aisle by aisle,

dripping indecision, monochrome splatter;
Pollock on linoleum, c. 2009.
Until I return to lay myself, barefoot

finding no settlement, just the memory
of you and the sound of bellsandslidingdoors
as I trace your outline in the dust

beginning to r e e k.



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