STOOD UP

I came home from the bar after the reading
and I wrote a poem
another one for the ghosts
they are so hungry for eulogies
and I got so deep into it
I made myself cry
over someone I watched die
but never really met
I figured I needed a good laugh
so I turned on the stereo
and played the Bill Hicks CD
loaned to me by Andy Hall
and I laughed
like I really needed it
because I did
but then
at approximately 4:30AM
about 39 seconds into track 30
the disc began to skip
and a single phrase repeated
I couldn't be certain
but it sounded like
lock the door
lock the door
lock the door
lock the door
lock the door
and I looked back over the couch
to see that my front door was indeed unlocked
Richard Beban was the featured reader
and he made mention of synchronicity
a phenomenon with which I am well familiar
you should've seen me jump
almost spilled the bong
I locked the door
shut off the stereo
and listened to the dogs barking down the street
I spent the next two hours
sitting in silence
until I fell asleep
with a loaded gun on my lap
waiting to meet the next ghost
but he never showed

- S. Marvin Tuomala, 2005