hound dog

            for CA Conrad with respect and admiration

like another asshole
in a collage of assholes
I emailed him
a letter telling him
what a wonderful poet
I considered him
and thanked him
for his contribution
to poetry

even though I hated
when writers
did this
this puckering
this ball licking
pretentious approbation

but then
like another asshole
in a collage of assholes

I pasted the first
section of my
most recent project
into the body
of the email
thinking maybe
he would relate
and we would
start a correspondence

even though
I have
never corresponded
with anyone
neither pen pal
poet
nor the pope
and consider myself
too lazy to do so
successfully
and why shouldn’t
he relate
because the style
and tone
and perhaps
contextual value
were ripped
right from
his own fingertips
in the most
unoriginal way

even so I waited
and I waited
and he never
responded

and for that
in all
sincerity
I thank him

I thank him
because
I probably
wouldn’t have
responded either

and instead
hit the
delete button

while eating fried
peanut butter
and listening
to Heartbreak Hotel

like another asshole
in a collage of assholes