(Spill-O Eludes His Engine)
Colin Dodds
That white-hot, unreasonable core
made sick by food, repulsed by beauty,
snickering at sex, impossible to comfort, failed by ideas,
disgusted at having been teased
into dubious existence in the body,
in the senses, under the scrutiny of petty consciousness—
It is Spill-O, but not his friend.
Every small escape It can win
destroys him a little
and makes him hungry for more.
The sun is his witness protection agency.
Under its watch,
Spill-O can pretend not to hear,
when called by his real name.
The day clatters past with vodka drinks,
men gathered around a dice table
and orange prescription bottles.
It’s a prison made of freedom,
creation rising up only to say
that no,
it wasn’t lookin at nothin.
The night is an appeals court.
Spill-O’s testimony is overthrown there.
The moon sets his enemy free.
Colin Dodds grew up in Massachusetts and completed his education in New York City. He’s the author of several novels, including WINDFALL and The Last Bad Job, which the late Norman Mailer touted as showing “something that very few writers have; a species of inner talent that owes very little to other people.” Dodds’ screenplay, Refreshment, was named a semi-finalist in the 2010 American Zoetrope Contest. His poetry has appeared in more than a hundred publications, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Samantha. You can find more of his work at thecolindodds.com.
