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Gifts
Kym CunninghamDr. Seuss must have been on acid
How else would he have known
the meaty
thwack
thwack
of chopping down truffula trees
was the same as Jon's head
slamming against the pavement
thwack
thwack
We had to call the police
He didn't take anything
we swore
staring at the sun to make our pupils less dilated
We hid the stopper that he’d licked
—anywhere from 5 to 100 doses
our dealer said—
in a combat boot
Fuck me up the ass
He yelled
eyes glazed in blood haze
Fuck me up the ass
we didn’t know if he was joking or not
They cuffed him
releasing us on our own recognizance
of which there wasn’t much left
Ten years later
A kid runs into the street
thwack
thwack
Gets hit by a car
a bad combination of
whippets
alcohol
and thanatos
It is the expected narrative
Death has never been
a good enough deterrence
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