love thy neighbor

he's reading
by the light
of a television
may as well be a strobe light
but at least he's reading
when he isn't blinking
or dying
if you ask the neighbors
who reckon
too much tv will kill you
the same neighbors
who leave their dogs' shit
strewn across his yellow lawn
like confetti
a mine field
every now and then
he laughs out loud
even screams out loud
and the startled neighbors swear
they were sure
he was already dead
he used to have a wife
they say
but she never cared for tv
let alone books
and so she had to go
chase the sun west
skipping stones
in the pacific
until the money
or the drugs
run out
so they say
so they say
and they say
he reads harlequin romance novels
or maybe philosophy
by the light
of the television
they smoke
they drink
break beer bottles curbside
and laugh
dogs shit
they talk of frankenstein
steady the battering ram
bang down the door
enter vitriol
and really ring his neck
and they laugh
and they laugh
til one of them feebly asks
what for
and the drunken men return
home
sheepishly
to their wives sleeping
by the light of plasma screen tvs
and a racket so loud
all thought is impossible