“As Though the Narrative Went Out for a Smoke,” by Mike Puican (Poetry ’09)

2009 poetry alum Mike Puican was recently featured in OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters. Read an excerpt of Puican’s poem “As Though the Narrative Went Out for a Smoke” below:

As Though the Narrative Went Out for a Smoke

As though the narrative went out for a smoke and never returned, and now
the cruel waitress
the afternoon sun warming the shoulders of a runaway daughter
the teenagers in loud cars who will not live much longer
the baby on a ledge
the hand gun in the freezer under a pork roast
the upright piano approaching on the ice
the key that fell into the cuff of her rolled-up jeans…

Read the rest of this poem here: https://ojalart.com/poetry-all-forms-stylesmike-puicanas-though-the-narrative-went-out-for-a-smoke/