at the thrift store
the radio blared Hot Hits as
I went through the books,
found a biography of Rimbaud
whose nickname for his mother
was The Mouth of Darkness
and who said funny things about
the lice living in his hair:
“I use them to flick at priests”

Jay Passer’s work has appeared online and in print since 1988. He lives and works in San Francisco, the city of his birth. His latest chap, Flower Omelette, co-authored with Misti Rainwater-Lites, is available from Lulu.