David LaBounty

the death of the first and last draft

she flips
the suitless
cards
& asks
the mouthy
gods
for answers

he takes
the
bottle cap
& weaves
it through
his fingers
the way a
bored
dealer
plays
with an
impotent
chip

all the while

the tv
plays
songs
without
tunes
as the
magic
rises
like a
fireless
smoke
&
drifts
its way
back to
heaven

as if
the magic
was told
to hurry up

& get its ass
back home

CP

Poet and novelist David LaBounty has held jobs as a miner, a mechanic, a reporter and a salesman. His third novel, Affluenza, was published in 2009. He lives in Michigan.