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"The Man I Killed"

Click here to listen to David Thorburn read this poem.

was in his early 30s, rosaceous, pocky, the Checker on a Newark pier. He said

I'll be respected
by Jersey turds
like you reporters

and these Hoboken wankers
still wearing bog shit.
Don't you get it?

I said No pictures.
Later, off the wharf
the camera guy

used a telephoto lens
as I pointed, for my byline story,
Wildcat Strikers

Shut Port Newark.
The next week they found him
floating near a buoy

dead in Bayonne harbor
in a mess of bootleg whiskey
and my story in the paper.

 
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David Thorburn is professor of literature and director of the Communications Forum at MIT. His most recent books, co-edited with Henry Jenkins, areDemocracy and New MediaandRethinking Media Change.

For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.