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2022 Jean Meyer Aloe Poetry Prize

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Letter to Florida Man

by Noah Rabinovitch

 

I  grew  up  /   watching  your   narrative   limbs   stitch   together   /   daily   you walk  into   gas   stations   and   the   page    tells   me   I   won’t   believe   what you’ll  do  next   /   but  then  /  I do  /  FLORIDA MAN RALLIES GUN OWNERS TO    SHOOT   DOWN   HURRICANE    IRMA    /   ROBS    GAMESTOP   WITH TRANSPARENT   BAG   COVERING   HEAD   /   needs   everything  and  hurts whoever   to   get   it    /   still   /   under  this  silly  slip  of   southern  chaos   /   I drag  my  body  through  click  bait  to  find  out   /   are   you  okay   /   FLORIDA MAN  QUITS  JOB  AT BURGER KING AND STEALS CHICKEN NUGGETS ON HIS   WAY   OUT / my   friend   /   if   I   knew   you   were   hungry  /   I   would’ve cooked   enough   for   the   two   of   us   /   what   is   it   about   you  that  turns heads   / is  it  the  beard  /  the  possibility   /   that  you  haven’t  taken  a  piano lesson  /  mind  your manners   /   sweet  monster  /   these   headlines   are  so incredibly   heavy   /   and   your  story  is  so  long   /   it   bleeds   off   the  page.





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