"The Heartbreak of Psoriasis" *
As a kid
when I heard that
commercial on the radio
I imagined
a lonely heart
a man
in a barely, furnished room
uncomfortable in
his own tortured skin.
Had he hoped for something better?
Something more in porcelain perhaps?
A clean sheet
to hide
the true to the
bone skeleton,
a proper draping
for what was
really beneath.
A second chance
for that second skin
he thought,
as he rubbed
and white flakes fell
like a flurry of pristine snow
much like the ones outside
his window.
* A TV and Radio AD Slogan.
Sardines
In a tin
the metallic flap
pealed away
like a skin
what a predicament
they are in.
All eyes
neat rows
well-oiled
packed in, like
well,
what they are.
I wonder
what school of
thought they
were in,
before their
terminal canning,
before this twist of fate—
what were they planning?
Ekleksographia:
Wave Three
May, 2010
Poetry
Doug Holder
Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, Massachusetts. His poetry and prose has appeared in RATTLE, The Boston Globe, Voices Israel, Istanbul Literary Review, Main St. Rag and many others. He currently teaches writing at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts and Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. He holds an M.A. in Literature from Harvard University.