a murder/suicide in southern California

by John Sweet

or that the man you love

is a rapist

that the mother walks away

from the burning trailer

from the sleeping child

every starving dog with

a gun and a justification for

why they shoot it

every room in the

house of truths silent and

thick with the smell

of blood

and i am

not a good person but

i love my sons

i am not a killer but

i believe in

the simplicity of it

i have my list of people

who deserve to die

it does nothing but grow

John has been writing since Reagan was manning the helm, has publications in hundreds of obscure and/or defunct ‘zines, anthologies, broadsides, journals and rags, including (but not limited to) Sanskrit, Snow Monkey, Whirligig, and Laugh It Off!  Published collections include Famine, Ash Wilderness, and the ever popular Human Cathedrals (rumor has it that it was taught to a creative writing class in a college in Virginia), among others.