Thomas L. Vaultonburg

Bus Station


Please don’t steal my bag.


Please don’t steal my blue bag
With all my poems in it.


Please don’t try to to steal my
Blue bag with all my poems
In it and a bag of pepitas
And the number for my caseworker
Then feign confusion when caught
Because you, too, have a blue bag
That says Downtown Mental Health Center.


Please don’t try to lift my blue
Bag with all my mom’s cancer poems
And the name of my caseworker in it etc...


It’s far too heavy.



Beaten


Every face
At the bus station
Is a torn
Lottery ticket.





Thomas L. Vaultonburg is from Rockford, Illinois, United States. He was diagnosed with both Schizoid Personality Disorder and Major depressive Disorder at age 16. Most of his adult life has been a battle against these disorders. Poetry has always been one of his great solaces. His poetry has appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Chiron Review, Caliban, Bogg, Gargoyle, and others.