a minor writer
if you want to be a famous writer
you kill somebody, he said, and then write
a fucking opus in prison.
he lit a cigarette,
blew smoke into the air, and continued.
or kidnap the mayor’s daughter.
I can see that working,
I can see the headlines emblazoned in gold
and outlined in blood red neon.
MINOR WRITER
KIDNAPS MAJOR TEENY BOPPER.
very funny, I said.
are you going to buy the next round?
he smiled and went on.
kill the zookeeper, the chef, the county clerk,
the plumber, the arch duke of Austria.
they did that one, I said.
it didn’t turn out well.
shoot or kidnap
whomever you want
he said.
you’ll earn a pardon by the president
because everybody recognizes your great talent.
yeah, maybe Normal Mailer
will rescue me, I said.
Norman Who? he said.
never mind, I said.
Kurt Nimmo published the literary magazine Planet Detroit in the early 1980s and The Smudge Review in the late 1970s. His chapbook imprints and magazines published noted poets, including Charles Bukowski, Lyn Lifshin, Belinda Subraman, Gerald Locklin, and many others. He now lives in southern New Mexico with his wife.
