Photography © Glenn Bowie

 

you tell me it’s the worst album ever

and I’ve got to hear it
like spitting out a drink
and saying, terrible, taste it
there’s a million things
we’ve bonded over hating
and a few thousand less
we’ve bonded over loving
and it’s twenty years now
you’re the only one
I’ve ever told the only things
I can’t tell anyone else
and the cover
is a man’s torso
with a trout head in a hat
and I realize I’ve already heard it
when I was going through my list-phase
watching, reading, hearing
what experts who showed no credentials
thought worth the earth’s time
and it was the worst album ever
and I stopped after four songs
and you twirl the vinyl around your pinky
like a spinning plate, hand me a drink
and say, wanna listen?
and I lean back, take a sip,
as the hellscape of sounds begin
my mind thinking, jesus christ, it’s a double album
my mouth saying sure, if you want

 

Kate LaDew is a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA in Studio Art. She resides in Graham, NC with her cats Charlie Chaplin and Janis Joplin.

Glenn Bowie is a published poet, lyricist and photographer from the Boston area. He also owns and operates an elevator company that supplies custom-built elevators for clients from New England to Hollywood. Author of two poetry and photograph collections (Under the Weight of Whispers and Into the Thorns and Honey) on Big Table Publishing, he donates all profits from his books to various charities for the homeless and local animal shelters.