In this, my 40th year
driving long distances should be
considered exercise
*
Looking at you, your faces, your eyes
closed is my relief
which is creepy
Me staring at strangers
the strangers not knowing
or maybe they do
I don’t deserve
such relief
*
I’m jealous
of other people’s
addictions
Their recovery
*
I look at my wife and think
I want you
but I’m scared
I want you I want you I want you
and so lie here un-
approachable, my face
in a book
*
Uptight in the moment
Regretful after
A step across
a darkened threshold
from the comedown
Vanity and self centeredness
Behind all this
vanity and self centeredness is a need
for love
A simple human
need for love
I struggle
to express
Have failed
to satisfy
Failed to make myself
vulnerable enough
to satisfy
Justin Marks’ books are, You’re Going to Miss Me When You’re Bored, (Barrelhouse Books, 2014) and A Million in Prizes (New Issues, 2009). His latest chapbook is We Used to Have Parties (Dikembe Press, 2014). He is a co-founder of Birds, LLC, an independent poetry press, and lives in Queens, NY with his wife and their twin son and daughter.