Featured Writer: Adam Levon Brown

By Raja's Insight on December 8, 2018 • ( 1 )

My ’76 Chevy Didn’t Invite You

I’m adrenaline-soaked,

up to my neck in the deep-end

of my ex-boyfriend’s swimming pool

Hoping that he never

comes back

He tried to hotwire

my heart to meet his needs

What he didn’t know

was that my key was already

in the ignition

Flaring, pumping, gas

engine of blazing truth

Brought down

by the heavens to banish

the unholy grip

of this manicured

narcissist

from my halo-lifted life

Hydraulic juggernaut

pounding

through the streets

And this monster

is still hanging

on to the passenger-side

door like I owe him

for that sandwich

he bought me at 7-11

3 weeks ago as a gift

He emotionally mailed

himself a ticket

to the top of my shit list

which hangs on my bedroom wall

to be spit upon daily

One thing I learned,

love isn’t always easy

Another thing I learned,

love isn’t always love

Love can also be an entitled

piece of pulp friction

who thinks you’re his.

I think of this random impostor

and I’m adrenaline-soaked,

up to my neck in the deep-end

of my Father’s swimming pool.

But back to the car

I am revving and revving

with all she’s got captain

I Roll down

the abuse-barrier window

just an inch

I tell the impostor to back

away from the car

And he finally lets go

of the door,

raises his hands and quietly

walks away

I just sit

adrenaline-soaked,

up to my neck in the deep-end

of my Father’s swimming pool

Hoping that he never

comes back

Love can be a lot of things

but this abuser

didn’t know the first, second, third-

Not even the fourth

thing about love

What he wanted

was of a different shade

What he wanted

was nothing I would ever give him

And again,

I’m still adrenaline-soaked

up to my neck in the deep-end

of my ex-boyfriend’s swimming pool

Hoping that he never

comes back

About the Writer

Adam Levon Brown is an internationally published poet and author in 14 countries. He has had his work translated in Spanish, Albanian and Afrikaans. Boasting upwards of 300 published pieces, you can find his writing at such publications as Burningword Literary Journal, Angel City Review, Firefly Magazine, Epigraph, Penwood Review, and Ariel Chart. He was long-listed in the 2016 Erbacce Prize poetry competition.

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