Expectation

I’m not him    why do
they expect it     like worms
on the driveway after
a rainstorm     I’m not even
his shadow     I wish the
sun would shine

can you explain it      it
won’t let go     glued like
skunk stink     how can they
stand the smell     the odor
should order my dismissal

my feet don’t fit the shoes
the pants can’t buckle my waist
it’s words without
periods     water without
waves     time that can
no longer count     don’t
moths gather at the light










Doug Van Hooser lives and writes in southern Wisconsin and Chicago where he is a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists Theatre. His fiction recently appeared in The Riding Light Review and his poetry in Stoneboat Literary Journal, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and Foliate Oak Literary Magazine.