Safe Houses I Have Known
By Steve Healey
5/5
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About this ebook
This book provides an interesting backdrop against which to examine certain kinds of white male paranoia currently on display in the US and adds to the political and cultural discourse in surprising ways.
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Book preview
Safe Houses I Have Known - Steve Healey
1
If You Are a Spy
it’s possible to keep a secret
sneak a piece of candy every minute
of the day for example keep a bag of M&M’s
hidden nearby or really listen
to music like a cryptographer
sucking blood from a mysterious word
my daughter’s word for music
is munitz if that’s the way to spell it
she keeps saying it until I turn it on
My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean
is another song
that eludes me I’m not used to the feel
of saltwater sloshing in my ears
it’s true that when my father spied for the CIA
his cover name sounded fake
it was Victor T. Redvane I just failed to keep
that secret there’s no need
to pretend a counterrevolution really came
and my body still lies over the Bay
of Pigs it’s hard to know if a threat is real
inside the shell of my daughter’s ear
a tick recently bit the soft skin
I tweezed the tick and put it in
a jar as evidence just in case
we were watched from outer space
Do You Feel Safe at Home?
This is what the nurse asks me.
I’m wearing socks and a hospital gown.
Soon she’ll walk me down a long hallway toward my procedure.
Outside it’s snowing—everything’s soft and shiny.
What does the word safe
mean to you?
There once was a time when I drew pictures of hallways
that kept going around and around.
One hallway led to our kitchen—
all the special sharp knives I wasn’t allowed to touch
stood on the counter and took a bow.
Do you feel comfortable in your body?
There once was a bird whose name was word
and each time I came near
it fluttered a little farther away.
On a scale from one to ten, how empty do you feel?
I became skilled at shoplifting.
I’d fill my pockets then bring a pack of gum to the cashier.
I’d look into his eyes and say, Just this, please.
Do you ever lie in bed and pretend to be asleep?
The anesthesiologist says it’s supposed to keep snowing
as he injects something milky into my IV.
Do you ever pretend to listen to what someone is saying?
There’s so much that can be predicted.
A song I’ve been hearing for a long time.
I’ve got the whole world in my hands.
I’ve got all the angels in a jar, like pickles.
The jar is the size of the whole world.
I will love pickles till the day I die.
A parade is always going by.
Do you have any questions?
Rearview
We almost accidentally ran over a little boy in the parking lot.
We hadn’t expected anything terrible to almost happen while backing out.
It was a nice day, and we’d just had a nice time at the lake when
we almost accidentally ran over a little boy in the parking lot.
The radio was on, and we weren’t paying attention while we backed out.
On the radio someone said the plan to raise taxes was dead in the water.
It was a nice day, and we’d just had a nice time at the lake when
we heard a little boy make the sound of almost being run over by a car.
There was a long moment of not understanding anything because
on the radio someone said the plan to raise taxes was dead in the water,
but then we looked and saw the little boy and began to understand.
He ran to his parents and they yelled at him for being careless.
There was a long moment of not understanding anything because
he was already so scared, then his face fell apart and he cried.
It happened in the United States in a terrible parking lot where
he ran to his parents and they yelled at him for being careless.
We began to drive again, we couldn’t imagine doing anything else,
and we wanted