Keith Nunes

I grew up disturbing the equilibrium

I grew up with a penchant for disturbing the equilibrium
In peace I saw confusion – uncertainty, ambiguity
It was torture to watch the eager side with the ineffectual and
Bruise those who sought to testify against the flow
You can’t be at one with a universe that
Wants to chisel you down to a coffee table
So fuck them - I’ll be who I want to be!
I’m standing for this – and that - and whatever I want to
Fire off about
It matters little – they’ll butcher you baby, take your socks off and burn you
I’ve been left with a translucent soul and backward steps
Running off the rear of my house
In bitter northern winters people like me die in crystal cold rooms
We are treasured statistics – we extract the once-in-a-while sorrowful shake of the head
We are mourned collectively, not individually
So I sidle in the dark away from the disingenuous
Cling to wet walls and scrape butter off knives
I can’t beat them
So I walk around them
Screaming my bloody head off
Hoping no-one will join me

Keith Nunes: I live in Tauranga , New Zealand . I've lived with depression and anxiety most of my 46 years and am still using medication, seeing a psychiatrist and a drug and alcohol counsellor. I'm a recovering alcoholic. I find writing and reading poetry helps in many ways. After 20 years of newspaper journalism I stepped aside 18 months ago and took up house painting. This gave me time to concentrate on poetry and have since been published on several online journals (Flutter Poetry Journal, ScribeSpirit, Snorkel, Blackmail Press) and in Valley Micropress in New Zealand .

Dorothy Mienko Barry Seiler Lisa Gordon Stephen Mead Michael P. Workman T. Lewis Olga Lalić-Krowicka Joel Fry Dave Ruslander Anna Kaye Forsyth Keith Nunes