It’s just a prank, bro! by Bogdan Dragos

he opened the shitty
door of his shitty
apartment
and got in
looking like shit

The jacket was torn
at the sleeves
and the shirt underneath
was torn at the chest

Wet mud adorned
his knees and ankles
and his cheap shoes were
about to fall off

There was blood stuck into
his thick beard
and mustache
and a bit around
the knuckles

"Happy new year!" he said
as he closed the door
behind him
and paced
from hallway to bathroom

Yes, another New
Year's Eve
spent alone

He was 46

But the punks he beat
in the streets couldn't have
been older than 16

The fuckers
were doing what today's kids
called 'pranks'
and threw firecrackers at him

"It's just a prank, bro!" they
cried over and
over again
as he charged them and
started swinging wildly

At some point
the punks had to fight back
or die
but they lost anyway

When it comes to minors,
you're infinitely less of a monster
if you beat the shit out of
them
than if you love them

Society will
understand

And as he washed his face
at the bathroom
sink
he understood
where all the rage
sprang from

Envy, of course

The envy that only a 46 year old
brute
who spends New Years
Eve alone
could feel

Oh, and how he
felt it.