Timothy Liu

THE STRANGER

 
A quick call
to the cops and
they’ll escort you
 
off my property,
no questions asked,
tax dollars
 
working for all
of us who
have a roof
 
over our heads
and if you catch
me in a good mood,
 
I might even slip
you a twenty
(or a hundred) if
 
you’re able to
convince me
it’s for food
 
rather than for
something
I don’t want to
 
know about and
yes, I get it,
no one feels safe
 
in an overcrowded
place and these
past few days
 
the weather’s been
drop-dead gorgeous—
way to go NYC
 
park benches
and cops sitting
inside their
 
cruisers at dusk
with faces lit up
by their phones—
 
sure glad I’m taking
my puggle out
for a stroll
 
tonight, his belly
full of kibble
and a milk-bone
 
caught midair
for having been
such a good boy—

Author: Timothy Liu

Timothy Liu’s latest book is Down Low and Lowdown: Bedside Bottom-Feeder Blues. He lives in Manhattan and Woodstock, NY. timothyliu.net

(For more information on Timothy Liu, see his website).

Plume: Issue #104 April 2020