onychocryptosis (the feet trilogy, part iii)

gosh it's you again
carving the flesh
your favorite pastime
making it blush

mother of pearl
daughter of pain
pain and swelling
as it grows forward and nasty

deal with that then
as it bleeds from the tap
what you lost I lost too
it was pus and I drained it

podiatry is not cheap
but you better try harder if you want to kill me


j. g. laszyck (Columbus, OH, 1976)

pes planus (the feet trilogy, part ii)

gaining momentum
circling the answers
a hollow conundrum
sticked to the wall

dear you, dear me
we all got way way more
than what we bargained for
a pain in the ass has turned itself into a major accomplishment

in all sincerity, at this stage in life
you would normally ask “what for”
and I would typically say “look around, look inside”
so you can go figure it out for yourself: the answer, dear, is always a new question

just as plain as that
just as plain as flat feet
and on humid days
the pain gets even worse


j. g. laszyck (Columbus, OH, 1976)

corns and calluses (the feet trilogy, part i)

pretend that nothing happened
pretend I was not there
pretend the hills were watching
and kisses were thin air

pretend you never liked it
the vision blurred, lens flare
lest we forget the tantrums
provided at daycare

impaled on your own spear
pretend you could not bare
being razed without much ado
while no one really cared

pretend you sailed the oceans
and death was well aware
pretend the liability
of whom a fate has dared

mobsters, crooks and petty thieves
eyeballing what you share
and then all hope was lost
barricades and warfare

pretend the end is hollow
pretend you don't compare
pretend it's now or never
you vanish, I declare

pretend a world of sorrow
a tear here, a smile there
pretend, for god's sake, just pretend
under the knife, forever


j. g. laszyck (Columbus, OH, 1976)