NOBODY: New Year’s 2018
Jill M. Talbot
“Hell is truth seen too late.”
— Thomas Hobbes
LISTEN UP, maybe it was that bad. NOBODY
could any longer pretend otherwise. NOBODY’s post-truth became pre-apocalyptic
without a diagnosis from an anesthesiologist. NOBODY wore orwell like tommy
hilfiger in the 90s without a selfie. NOBODY watched 90’s sitcoms except
ironically. NOBODY wore cosby sweaters to prom. NOBODY called out entitlement
on twitter without a mob. NOBODY’s distress was the new password for entry into
the martha stewart fan club. NOBODY walked out of hell without a camera crew.
NOBODY took pee breaks at a normal pace while falling for men in movies of tax
heists. NOBODY’s devil horns could grow back without splashes of blood. NOBODY
could impeach god or rest in peace near a highway. NOBODY’s just-like-chicken passed the drug test.
NOBODY’s pussy said grace when will was out to lunch. NOBODY was as big or
small as they wished to be, requests were discarded like poppies on remembrance
day. NOBODY could taste the snow without coughing up humanity. NOBODY could
solve the question of numbers because even god gets tired of counting bodies.
NOBODY could blame catholics for blessings that occurred after-the-fact.
NOBODY’s alternative version of events could bring back rare coins or beating
hearts. NOBODY could be a jack-of-all-trades
because we’re all in this together
was for times when the neutrality card could win the game. NOBODY could play
dumb when the hurricane was in the living room. NOBODY knew if the elephant in
the room dies, do you have a funeral? NOBODY’s teeth cracked enough to save
them. NOBODY put rah rah on a bumper
sticker. NOBODY’s fire could solve world hunger. NOBODY watched louie without a barf bag. NOBODY knew if
it were worse to date a poet or a comedian. NOBODY
said downtown is the new homeless.
NOBODY tried to open an umbrella inside,
except for nihilists. NOBODY could count fares when shots were falling from the ceiling. NOBODY folded
themselves flat—glossy and muted. NOBODY
raised a fist to the gods of poetry. NOBODY
could see the fruit bleed dark blood. NOBODY harbored a fugitive penguin. NOBODY feared the worst because it had
already happened. NOBODY served their country a
plate of mirrors. NOBODY wrote love
letters to justin trudeau. NOBODY knew how to write instructions in scripts
when acting was like dying. NOBODY could
close the lid of the year NOBODY could
open. NOBODY could re-bury the right bones at wind river. NOBODY brought on the storm without a torch. NOBODY could
name something that could kill 1.8 million people.
NOBODY’s ego purred without a lapdance first. NOBODY could want NOBODY and feel
it. NOBODY could watch the little mermaid
without jealousy. NOBODY could free horses by putting quarters in jukeboxes. NOBODY could name their abuser like a
bathrobe. NOBODY could throw children out of
windows without watching them fall.
NOBODY said lordy now. NOBODY could
subtract their thinking. NOBODY chalked it’s
so great to be alive on a
blackboard. NOBODY balked. NOBODY drove a hummer in canada. NOBODY hearted james comey. NOBODY died because they
had access to health care. NOBODY
facebook friended their worst enemy. NOBODY played violins filled with water.
NOBODY knew when to stop counting during hide and seek or if seven minutes in heaven would lead to
cancer. NOBODY avoided canada geese when they were hoping to hitch a ride.
NOBODY knew how to say keep climbing.
NOBODY knew how to offer scenic views to a cemetery. NOBODY knocked at the door
for NOBODY and NOBODY cared. NOBODY wept snowflakes. NOBODY got the good news
first because NOBODY knew the difference. NOBODY swore to god without a trial.
NOBODY was afraid of wolves because honesty was the best policy. NOBODY cried a
salty ocean and named it after the
godfather. NOBODY’s first commandment was to admit their secret aloneness.
NOBODY’s nightlight kept day from coming. NOBODY’s goldilocks zone was groomed
to perfection. NOBODY was a free agent. NOBODY was taken by the men of ice
during the good wife. NOBODY had ten
reasons to be cruel. NOBODY could tell it
like it is to flocks of plucked chickens. NOBODY could describe it as an
approaching shadow. NOBODY read jung by candle. NOBODY’s dog god could say the
meaning of green grass or bird behavior. NOBODY marched without daughters,
mothers, sisters. NOBODY awoke to songs made of shots. NOBODY knew how to keep
a tree from falling except in the hypothetical. NOBODY knew if fireworks could
prevent the ghosts from coming.
NOBODY did nothing to stop it.
NOBODY wrote this poem.
A Shovel Is Like A Lover
Jill M. Talbot
You may need a different shovel
in different circumstances. Everyone
has one—except for those who don’t.
It’s like shopping for a new lover. Tinder
may seem like a good place when you
just want to rid of the president’s face—
temporarily. A shovel is like a lover
because you always put your driveway
first. A bar’s fine if you need to believe
we’re in this together—or we’re in
a different era—when America was great
in bed. A shovel is like a lover because
it’s almost impossible to find the
true fit—and sometimes there’s so much
snow overnight, you start to wonder if
anyone should touch it—if maybe
we should all stop trying to pave our
way out. If maybe we should all make
snow angels and skip class. If maybe
we should just wait for the Zamboni Man.
A shovel is like that.
///
Jill M. Talbot’s writing has appeared in CV2, The Fiddlehead, Geist, Rattle, PRISM, The Stinging Fly, and others. Jill won the PRISM Grouse Grind Lit Prize. She was shortlisted for the Matrix Lit POP Award and the Malahat Far Horizons Award. Jill lives in Vancouver, BC.
“NOBODY: New Year’s 2018” is a (sort of) sequel to Jill’s poem “NOBODY,” which was published by Rattle in 2017. Read that poem here!
