On Sewers
written by: Warren Alexander
My grandfather rotated his jokes
A guy killed himself in the gutter
He committed sewer-cide
He gave us a buck when we laughed
The sewer, the Venus fly trap
Of the city luring unsuspecting
Pink rubber balls into its dank maw
Its favorite food, Spaldeens
No matter what we played stickball
Punch ball, innocuous box ball
The games ended in a sewer
We tried with bent hanger and gum to
Retrieve from drowning what was lost
The odor scorned like unworthy foe
Yet the water never high enough
Our arms never long enough
The sewer victorious, always
Warren Alexander
MARCH 2019 AUTHOR OF THE MONTH at Spillwords.com
Warren Alexander was born and still lives in New York City. He was identified as a cynic by his kindergarten teacher, and he honed this quality under the tutelage of Thomas Keneally, Peter Carey, and E. L. Doctorow at NYU, where he received his MA in creative writing.
His satiric novel, Cousins’ Club, was a semi-finalist for 2017 BookLIfe Award for General Fiction. His work, Wrong Train, placed second for the 2016 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award judged by Michael Matrone.
He is currently working on a satiric novel about business.
His satiric novel, Cousins’ Club, was a semi-finalist for 2017 BookLIfe Award for General Fiction. His work, Wrong Train, placed second for the 2016 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award judged by Michael Matrone.
He is currently working on a satiric novel about business.
Latest posts by Warren Alexander (see all)
- On Sewers - April 1, 2022
- What Women Fear - November 9, 2020
- How Others May See Me - March 6, 2020
