Poetry: Selections from Mark Tulin

Fascist Wedding

I went to a relative’s wedding

that should have never happened

Two white fascists tying the knot,

a noose around the world’s neck,

choking off our air supply

 

That’s all we need,

two morons making babies

who think alike,

and bleed society

of its vital organs

 

I wanted to gift them something

to encourage sensitivity,

like The Selected Poetry of Leonard Cohen

but gave them a fancy blender instead,

too afraid to reveal my true intention.

The Needle Jab

waiting for my needle jab

I have my sleeves rolled up

my eyes closed tight

my upper arm held out

the barrel loaded

plunger ready

the syringe aimed for fire

the nurse flicks the saber

X marks the spot

the needle goes in cleanly

no fainting

no convulsing

no birth defects

no protesting pandemic restrictions

no insurrection

just a needle saving my life.

Free Floating Anxiety

I’m at loose ends

when the world

is not going my way

 

I have free-floating anxiety

that shadows me wherever I am

and corrupts my peace of mind

 

like a cloud of black smoke

hovering over my head

that tells me something is wrong

 

that the world will end

I will lose everything

Chaos will reign

but then it goes away

when I focus on other things

and comes back unexpectedly.

1954 Black and White Photo

Dressed in a mohair coat,

a suit and tie, and a Fedora,

my father posed for a Polaroid

on top of the Empire State Building

 

My parent’s on their honeymoon,

before my first breath,

before the sun shined in my eyes

and I discovered a moon in the sky

 

Before my world became a Tonka truck,

a snowsuit with mittens attached,

a three-wheel bike with streamers,

and a case of Celiac

 

I never thought an old photo

would have so much value

Until I saw myself

in the memory of my father.

Disability of the Spirit

The missionary startled me,

by laying hands on my head

because he believed my handicap

was a sin and that my cerebral palsy

was due to not praying

 

He called my handicap,

a disability of the spirit,

and that I’m being punished

by the righteous one

 

And he gave me a brochure,

with a white crucifixion cross,

and said if I attend church on Sunday,

I’d be saved

 

Saved from what? I asked

He said, from Satan

I told him to take Satan and go to hell,

and prayed he took my advice.

Mark Tulin is a former family therapist who lives in Palm Springs, California. A publisher compared his work to artist Edward Hopper on how he grasps unusual aspects of people’s lives. His books include Magical Yogis, Awkward Grace,The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, Junkyard Souls, and Rain on Cabrillo. His work has been featured in Ariel Chart, Amethyst Review, The Poetry Village, The Junction, Fiction on the Web, Page and Spine, Vita Brevis Press, and Scrittura. He is also a Pushcart and Best of Drabble nominee.