Ryan Quinn Flanagan

Halloween, 1996

Some girl at the Halloween party
asked me if I had come
as an unemployed bum,
and I commended her on her costume
and the bravery it took
to come as someone who couldn't
have kids.

She broke down in tears
and everyone thought me
a bad guy,

but I was a bad guy
so it was just as well.

The rest of the costumes
were pretty predicable:

Four witches
three vampires
two sexy nurses
and a six-pack turned to five
when one fell ill
and couldn't make it.

 
"I have recently been published in Quills, Vallum, The New York Quarterly, and The Antigonish Review. I also have pieces appearing in the anthology Lake Effect and have a full-length poetry book in print entitled Pigeon Theatre."
E-mail: cyanogen_rqf[at]hotmail.com

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