Jeff Bagato

THE NATURE OF CRIME

Mother Nature steals
back something for the wind
when she blows your tire
with a dropped nail

a hurricane steals a drugstore
roof and a couple hundred
condoms, roughs up the place
so no one will know what’s missing

the rain has stolen your sunny day

Devil’s Lake wants that whole town
in North Dakota to get out with
their hands up

like a loan shark it has organized
a billion drops of rain
to grab the real estate and hold on
for a higher price

meanwhile, the rains
are falling and rivers rise—
lightening strikes and grabs
at an apple orchard,
stepping back, belching

slipping into a grocery, you fill your inner
pockets and retreat, counting
the grab on the way home—
you can’t steal, it’s free, free,
and the rain knows,
the trees know, like the ants
that come in through the window

a lightning fire covers the tracks—
that nothing could be
free is the last law
of man

triumphant in the hills,
a rabbit gets another
grain


Jeff reads "The Nature of Crime":



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Jeff confesses: "The Gaia hypothesis, Earth First! and paganism inspired the idea that Wild Nature would invert the materialistic values of western civilization. Various fantasy scenarios spring forth, which eventually become a justification for shoplifting necessities like food, part of some lifestyle experiments a while back."


A multi-media artist living near Washington, DC, JEFF BAGATO produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music, glitch video, sticker art, and pop surrealism paintings. Some of his poetry has appeared in Empty Mirror, Futures Trading, In Between Hangovers, Otoliths, Your One Phone Call, and Zoomoozophone Review. His published books include Savage Magic (poetry), Cthulhu Limericks (poetry), The Toothpick Fairy (fiction), and Dishwasher on Mars (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.wordpress.com.