Pizza Money

by John Rocco

U R Dead to Me
she wrote in the sky
blood and whiskey clouds
filling her Valhalla facebook wall.
Damn, she’s tough
reminding me of a day
in the early 1980’s
before she was born
when I was standing
outside a drug store
in mad summer hot
with the murderers
in charge of everything
as usual, the internet
still a toaster.
I was just
standing there
counting change
for a slice from
Fresh Meadows Pizza
(Brothers Pizza is better)
when she walked
past me
time and chance
in her eyes.
The year was different
and I was different
counting that change
when I saw her
but it’s all still the same,
the same feeling that
all the women in my life
are a test, a riddle,
a problem, a confusion
to be solved without
a solution
thank fucking God.