Loose Staples

by Michael Paul Kozlowsky

My first job was

At 14

Working

In a comic book

Store

I frequented

So much

Spending

So much

Money

That they

Offered me

A position

Knowing

The money would

Come right back

To them

A whiplash

In green

This store

Like the books

Sold within

Were filled

With characters

Colorful

And chaotic

And trapped

Within tight

Borders

Without a

Sense of time

Or prophets

Elliot entered

Our panel

Once a month

To a stack

Of books

Three feet high

And he would

Spend the

Entire day

Against the sun

Scanning every

Page

Top to bottom

With his

Hairy index finger

As if

Speed reading

Or seeking

An electric

Charge

In that

Thin distance

He ordered

Lunch

Poured me

Soda

And talked

To me

In ways

He couldn’t

With other

Adults

And I often

Wonder

Where

He is

Now

And if he is

Still searching

For more loose

Staples

And the

Herniating spark

Of life

Vita’s mouth

Twitched

Much like the

Gray curls atop

Her head did

Every time

She laughed

In that guttural

And masculine

Way

And I tried

Not to stare

But it

Was difficult

This quivering

Assault

Of teeth

And so

We rarely

Spoke

And she

Would

Continue

To float

Through the

Store

Like a

Torn page

Covered in

Old advertisements

Bill spoke

Of nothing

But how

Much he ate

On cruise ships

As his belly

Rested

On the glass

Counter

Housing

Premium

Comics

And cards

And collectibles

And hot new

Things of

Which he

Only thought

He knew

His smile

Frozen

And the

Corners

Tugging

With yearning

For something

Long

Gone

Even as he

Suspected

Life was

Ripping him off

Left and right

Chris

My brother

Was always

Busy

Trying to

Locate

His childhood

In the

Overstock

Bins

Beneath

The tables

And out of

The camera’s

Cold eye

Hiding from

View like

He was

Still in

The hospital

And scared

Of the

Patients

All around him

And I

I was

Lost

Somewhere

Between

Identities

A flat

Character

Looking

For shape

In a

Paper thin

World

That only

Appeared

To have

Greater

Dimensions

BIO: Michael Paul Kozlowsky is the author of Scarecrow Has a Gun and The Creeps (Oct., Keylight). His children's novels, written as M.P. Kozlowsky, include Juniper Berry and The Dyerville Tales from HarperCollins, and Frost and Rose Coffin from Scholastic Press. His writing has appeared on The No Sleep Podcast, and in Passages North, Whiskey Tit, Miracle Monocle, and The Inquisitive Eater, among others. He lives in New York, and can be contacted through his website at www.mpkozlowsky.com.