muttering at his blackberry and
eating a five-dollar widget of chocolate
with shades on to keep from meeting
the homeless veterans’ eyes

once I saw him once
I started recognizing him
everywhere I went

saw him at Washington Mutual at the ATM
Death goes to the same bank I do

saw him exchanging jokes
with the ex-SAVAK agents
at the Coffee Bean in Tehrangeles
he had four espressos

I saw Death in Sam’s bookstore
leafing through Gibbon
Death licks his finger to turn the page
then doesn’t buy the book
the bastard
I should read Gibbon

I saw Death in Ocean Park
ogling the coeds in their one-pieces
well ogling everybody
including me
that’s what bad taste Death has

Randy Cauthen is Associate Professor of English and Poet in Residence at Cal State, Dominguez Hills. His books are The Use of Force (poems), Black Letters: An Ethnography of Legal Writing, and a forthcoming book of poems he has not figured out what to call. As an actor, he has appeared in the World Premiere of Samuel Beckett’s Radio One. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, he now lives in Los Angeles.

*Photo courtesy of Snap Man.

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