Black mood circus strangely absent. 
No Cherub faced glue sniffer wears his dark 
Prussian school uniform or dances down 
blood flecked hallways.

Did a rival’s blade find your throat?

Artificially compliant, you drift in with 
the late morning sunshine. 
Greet Sensei with burnt out rusty waste pump 
eyes. Wago san, what blew your fuses today?

Militant is your nihilism as if you’re 
Nobunaga’s hedonist offspring, 
though always hedged in by school 
rules and vigilant acne.

What mad dog anarchist revolution 
do you lead? So sorry, teacher cannot 
reach you. He no longer speaks your 
caustic pulsar language. 
Will you forgive this defeatist’s wash of hands?

Steve Howard has a BA in creative writing from Western Washington University and has published flash fiction, short stories, haibun, and creative non-fiction in numerous literary journals. His novella The Adamantine River Passage was released in 2017. His self-published collection of short stories Satori in the Slip Stream, Something Gaijin This Way Comes, and Fly Fishing Out of a Dead End Life were released in 2018. He currently teaches English in Japan and is a semi-professional stand up comedian.

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