By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 29 December 1999

Wasted Garden

when you're alone & disconnected
   you think of the last time
        you had sex
  and the last time you got
         kissed
 and if you don't have a 
      fifth of Jack Daniels
  or a pack of cigarettes
  or someone to call
  or a computer in your bedroom
  or cable TV
you break down and circle ads
  in the back of the paper
and respond to your
   favorite one
but you're smart
   and you realize 
      the futility
even as you're giving 
  your phone number
 and the best time
     to reach you
 to a complete stranger
so you listen to "Shelter From the Storm"
     on your new stereo
and cry until you need  
   a couple of pills
       for the pain
because you've got all
   this love
blooming inside you
and no one 
in the world
    wants
your petals...