LOU RASMUS

My first roommate
Was a chainsmoker
And a drunk, and
Every night he’d
Smoke a pack
And down a bottle
Of shitty rum.
I didn’t mind.
He was the one
Who had to wake
Up in a pool of
His own piss,
The lousy swine.
I just promised
Myself to never
Get that bad.
I told myself
That kind of life
Is really sad.
But here I am,
Writing this poem
After having washed
My piss-stained sheets,
And having brushed
My ash-stained teeth,
Realizing now that
I’m no better than him.
Fuck me.