i lit a cigarette while waiting for the train
& a man standing there said,
"i quit smoking those coffin nails years ago"
& i looked at him in his wool overcoat
& his beady eyes behind wire frames
& his perfectly parted hair
& his smooth cheeks
w/the financial section of the paper
tucked beneath his arm
& i wanted to scream,
"i see the nails of the coffin everywhere!"
coffin nails holding up the barber shop
coffin nails keeping the bank together
coffin nails in the hem of long coats
coffin nails in the beams & sheet-rock
of the long rows of houses
coffin nails pinning the cribs together
coffin nails riveting the automobiles together
coffin nails hammered into everything, everywhere
especially love, especially fucking love