short leg strong

i wake up late

stare at the cheesies on the floor

and the shoes still on my feet

and the sun through the

christ what time is it windows

of my bedroom

racing the coffee pot

with a before work shower

i make a pact with the old spice body wash

i bought on one of those

'this is a lot of body wash and smells like the sorts of boys who make my knees weak'

impulses,

to quit drinking

(note to self - this smell turns showering into

ahem. long showering)

maybe if i just switch to light beer?

don't get me wrong

i respect nondrinkers

and smoothies

and freshly squeezed organic juices

and livers just not into

that kind of thing

consent is sexy

but i

am the kinda guy

who learned quite young

that i'd rather say yes to a fight

a challenge

a shot and a bar to dance on top of

than no

i can't

i'm not like you

my body is small

and 87 pounds

and riddled with words like

arthrogryposis

scoliosis

and that one leg shorter than the other

swaggerotosis

so i push myself

i ignore the red flags

while i hoist the rainbow ones

i will dance til the morning

and still find flicker in my eyes to walk you home

and linger in your doorway-

give in my bones to

push past your layers

of skin

and sensibility-

burn in my muscles to

drive until dawn

until i can feel you

fall asleep

around me

a friend of mine told me not to let it go to my head

this american able stuff

this art star famous stuff

and i find that funny

somehow

because its not about vanity

or humility

but dichotomy

i don't need to be on the screens of the TTC

to have one more asshole

tell me

how inspiring i am

its a distraction

the disabled distraction

if you're a fucking hero

no one has to sort out their shit

we can just smile or cry

i heard that one of the people detained

during the G20

was beaten with his own prosthetic leg

he worked for Revenue Canada

and i gotta say

when i read that

i couldn't stop laughing

man

here i was

stuck in peterborough

wishing i could protest with my disabled comrades

from DAMN2025

having to read Anne's speech online instead

about the money spent on securing

the fate of those secure nation leaders

and the money cut

from the diets of the special, disabled and poor

by our nation's leader

and buddy is knocked out with his own leg

shit.

i couldn't have written a better metaphor

he's not a hero

he's just another person getting whacked by the phallus of capitalism

and god if only that was a sexier thing to watch

i was kicked out of the washroom at woody's once

because i wasn't in there alone

but when that scuzzy door swung open

the 6 foot bar man

looked at me so fast he needed

to tell you

that you could take me upstairs

for the key

to the accessible

stall-

his apologies

the choice

between tired

from banging my head on the same wall

or tired

from too many cocktails

and un-healthy decisions

makes me wonder

what health even means

feminist fighter

betty friedan once said

that if we take care of the day

the night will take care of itself

but i think

sometimes

you gotta take the night like a lover by the hand

walk with her up to the bar

and slam down the key to the accessible

washroom

after 45 minutes

of