Get Us Out of Here

The roaches crawl through the employee lounge

as we wait on invisible checks
to spend on starving children
and cheap wine

I find my comfortable place by the fan
and pop a Xanax

daydream I’m a jetsetter
popular with the natives
of every island

I’m halfway there
wearing no underwear

the quarters in my pocket
for ramen
instead of laundry

Anna
I want to take you
on a kitchen counter
and pretend it’s a balcony in Barcelona

we’re halfway there
as my AC struggles

as we do
folding clothes
tearing tickets

we’re halfway there

but the landlord’s
always waiting at the end

our island fades into a bedroom
our balcony fades into a twin bed

we fall asleep

broke
and dreaming

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

Brown Pants

I

I was sent home today
for wearing brown pants

I'm 29 years old
almost 30
I have a college degree
not that I think
having a college degree
makes me better
than anyone else
I've met some high school drop-outs
that are geniuses
and college grads
that can barely wipe their own ass

but still
I have gray hairs
and I was sent home
for wearing brown pants

by a good man
an ex-gangbanger
who turned his life around
who's the kindest soul in the world
and didn't wanna send me home
for wearing brown pants
instead of blue pants

but had to do
what he had to do

and I don't hate him for it

I don't hate anyone

I don't hate the pants

they're brown
and they didn't know

I don't hate the customers

they certainly don't got to a museum
expecting astronauts and severe weather exhibits and blue pants

I don't hate myself

they're pants

II

When I got to work the next day

the Omnimax projector
had broken down

the show was canceled
and all the customers
were filing out of the theater

the bosses stood there

None of them knew how to fix it

but they had blue pants on

They had followed
their own rule

they looked good

as the tourists walked out the door

and never came back

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

A Good Looking Man

I was on the train
going to work
with a grocery bag
full of chips

everyone was looking at me

and I thought

alright
I'm a good looking man

every time I looked up
the girls would look down
and the guys would look to the side

and I thought
alright
I'm intimidating

then I realized
I hadn't buckled my belt
back up

the strap was sticking out
underneath my polo shirt
and it looked like
I had a massive hard-on

also
you could clearly see
the Shopper's Value logo
underneath the thin white plastic
of my Jewel bag

when I got to work
I went to the bathroom
and looked in the mirror

I had forgotten to comb my hair
it was sticking up in back

I also
had crust in my eyes

I gave myself the wink and the gun

I was a good looking poet

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

The Fat Man, the Hooker and the Cockatoo (for Anna)

We sat in the park

and watched the fat man, the hooker and the cockatoo

the fat man clipped the cockatoo’s wings
so it couldn’t fly away

while the hooker smoked a cigarette
and squinted

it was business as usual

when my pocket was filled
with flowers you had picked

the pigeons came up
to say hello

with their fiery red eyes
and dumb thumb heads

the cockatoo presented the plumage
on its head

None of us
wanted to leave

but the hooker had to make money

the fat man and the pigeons had to eat

and you
had to go back to work

and I

couldn’t go at it alone

with a flightless bird

on a beautiful day

we held hands

and walked away

hating retail

hating the sun

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

Let Us Pray

Cell phone alarm goes off

Tuck in my shirt

salad
coffee
talking heads on the TV
smiling

more coffee

out the door
and it's moderately sunny

everyone on the train
is lonely
and running into each other

some believe in god
some don't

but they all comb their hair
and put their ties on
like they're going to church

kneel
to fix a copier

rise when our break's over

and lust

for the cashier

When we get our check

it isn't much

We spend it on wine
and tortilla chips

and the rest
goes somewhere
mysterious

some say Jesus

some say the gas company

some say fuck it and buy DVDs

and some commit suicide

I open the door
to 50 screaming parochial school kids

and punch in

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

Space and Below

Riding the train to work

I put my name tags on
Johnny Cash in my head

as a Latina w/ highlights
picks through her chips
like she's searching for diamonds
in a bag of shit

I want to make love to her
and take her Cheetos

The doors open

I get off

it isn't too hot
it isn't too cold

as the Hubble telescope
looks down on us

watching a movie
on how the Hubble telescope looks down on us

like a liquor store security camera

© 2010 Lee Kitzis

#1 Dad

I drink coffee
at the bus stop

and watch the NASCAR dads
and meth-head moms

drag their kids
into the building

their shirts stained w/ Wyler’s
fruit punch

tiny screaming miracles

I’ve got a good woman

she doesn’t want kids

we lay in bed

drinking cheap wine
and watching old Pink Panther cartoons

and when we make love

it’s nice

giving birth to
the quiet

in each other’s arms

we fall asleep

with a homeschooled cat

© 2010 Lee Kitzis