Manny Francis III Biography

'You see, the major difference between you and me, '
said one friend to another,
'is I don't want to set the world on fire.
I just want to watch it burn.'
...

It was two Saturdays ago and well
past midnight when the lot of us strolled in
the black-lit house with our share of Miller
Lites in hand, each of us bobbing our heads
...

I find myself confounded
on the third and fourth steps of the basement
staircase. Is it me descending down,
or the cellar ascending to me?
...

The week is raw, uncontrollable, worthy of a new corpse...
...nothing a few Vicodin couldn't remedy...
...my face goes numb, the vanilla sherbet orb
at the end of a dessert chef's spit.
...

A few pounds not only put a few more
bruises in that beaten, forest door, but
also prompted him to open up and show me
...