Ken Tomaro
Ken Tomaro is a writer living in Cleveland, Ohio. His writing has been published in several online and print journals and reflects everyday life with depression. Sometimes blunt, often depressive but always grounded in reality. His full-length collection, Potholes and Perogies (through Alien Buddha Press) is available on Amazon.
If you want to be in academia you have to look the part
where do the poets go
when they are done poeting?
do they slink back into a crack in the wall
of some dark coffee shop?
do they hang out in front of the mirror
fixing their slick 50’s style hair
adjust their retro shades,
their bowling shirts
their tweed jackets and pipes
whispering the word laureate
over and over again
laureate, laureate...until they are convinced?
where do the poets go
when they are done with the word?
are they gypsies
roaming from one reading to the next?
do they sleep amongst the books
of some grand academic library
or in a comfortable hole in the earth?
do they talk about sports
or the Saturday night movie?
do they eat macaroni and cheese?
On why we listen to the experts
I heard somewhere
if you want to improve your posture
pretend you’re shooting lasers from your nipples
and aim for someone’s head
which makes as much sense
as anything I guess
but I also heard Burgess Meredith say
to get through the hard times, the long days
close your eyes and picture a farm
a nice little plot of land
pinch your nose
and bob your head up and down
until you need to breathe
to unclog your sinuses
swish olive oil in your mouth
for no less than five minutes
to loosen the plaque
wrap onions on your feet while you sleep
to get rid of foot odor
pour peroxide in your ears
until it stops bubbling to get rid of a cold
how
did we ever make it?