Killing Gomer Pyle.
Gomer Pyle is a darkling figure
lured beneath America’s soul.
He finds the underbelly everywhere.
He cannot imagine a world so cruel that would have him.
He is good and he can die real good.
He talks funny and he can die real good.
He is retarded and he can die real good.
He is a hick and he can die real good.
Sit in the pit of your stomach and stay there.
Wrap yourself around his dark occult of tunes.
From yonder there Gomer Pyle waves,
oblivious because of course he is.
Rosebud.
the words slip off my lips and i die,
the snow globe falls, you know the story,
and i slip off into the deep of forever.
oh take me home, i’ve fallen so far,
i’ve tasted love and bitter beer
and i know which i prefer.
xanadu xanadu xanadu
what i would not do to stand in your halls
and burn that shit to the ground.
i can’t help but wonder
who will play me in the movies—
yet again i die to my own desires.
rosebud, oh rosebud, your blooming
cardinal petals float
to my lips and i drink your nectar.
oh how sweet
— Hayden Church is the author of A Question of Refinement, a book of poems. His work appears in Azure Bell, The Florida English Journal, Encyclopedia.Zone, and an untitled book forthcoming. He has a website.
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