"Addicts"
Click the arrow on the audio player to hear Carol Muske-Dukes read this poem. You can also download the recording or subscribe to Slate's Poetry Podcast on iTunes..
Monsters, all of them. The ones who Back. The big bloodbath: Family Who shoots up, the Dad who flashes— The-grass, uncles, aunts, boys & girls, The twelve steps to confront the big In the Times by the Depts. of War Back into those we need to kill Heaven-sent ideologies: every Meth. In the heart, in the vein— Set forth by the guy on the internet We all want to be eaten alive, isn't Chateau Y'quem (1945), some techno- Keep us honest: and then, the Donner .
gave one life, the ones who take life
Romance and hot woe: the Mom
Sex fiends, hand-cranked snakes-in-
Gay & straight, rocketing up and down
Mocked sad-as-shit Self, mirrored
& Good Works: breathing life
To restore Peace. There will be
Religion tweaked and sold like crystal
What passes for Populism is
Who wants to be eaten alive. Buddy,
That finally It? You, me, a bottle of
Lute, Catullus' words piped in, just to
Party all over again, but by choice this time.
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Carol Muske-Dukes is professor of creative writing and English at USC and the author of eight books of poems, most recently Twin Cities.
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.Click here for an archive of discussions about poems with Robert Pinsky in "the Fray," Slate's reader forum.