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"Nails"
by David LaBounty

It's what happens
when you take
dinner and love
for granted.
It's what happens
when you call her
from the office
and ask her
what she's
doing and what
she's making,
and
it's what happens
when you don't
like her answer,
because you give
answers all day long,
answers
that no one
likes to hear.
So you hang up
on her as so
many have hung
up on you and
you hang up
on her because
you have to
strike out at
someone and,
it's always
easier to
strike out at
someone who
really can't
defend themselves
until you come
home to some
empty plate
and the silence
scratches your face
like so many ragged
and once manicured
nails.

David LaBounty lives with his wife and two young sons, and his poems have appeared in Dogmatika, Zygote in My Coffee, The Beat, The Panhandler, Pemmican and other journals. His novel The Trinity should be released this summer by Offense Mechanisms. There is more info at his "very boring blog" at http://davidlabounty.blogspot.com/.