Poems Written on the Backs of Receipts

Poems Written on the Backs of Receipts
Peter Nelson-King 

I.

I found
this pen
in a parking lot—
same with
a few of
these receipts.

I haven’t
bought a pen
in years.

Is this
real living?

II.

I have
to be
narrow

this receipt
is sticky

Bly wrote
that tiny
poems
read by
those who can
understand
them

make the
reader
soar above
sharp rocks.

Am I
soaring,
my fingertips
stuck to
old
paper?

III.

In between
writing*
I’ve been reading
in public.
(*writing in public)

A
bright young man
comes up
asks what I’m reading
smiles
through his mask;

before he leaves
he asks
if he can
“pray over me.”

I wonder
if I look
pliable
or if
I look
damned.

IV.

This receipt was
trampled on
buckled over
itself
like a
fainted
dancer.

It probably
doesn’t think
it’s worth
the ink
this is
written in.

V.
When
Harmony Korine
made Trash Humpers
he considered
leaving
tapes of the film
in the street,
free,
abandoned.

If I
let
these leaves
blow away,
escape
in the wind,
would anyone
read them?

Peter Nelson-King is active as a classical musician in the Seattle area, playing in large ensembles on trumpet and mounting solo and small group concerts on trumpet, piano and voice. His major artistic focus is in discovering unjustly neglected artists in many mediums from the past and promoting them for new audiences. He is also a composer and writer, including editing the poetry anthology The New Pagans.

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