Axl was my god in seventh grade,
a bullied small kid’s king of balls-out rock.
I screamed “I wanna watch you bleed!” and prayed
that Slash would murder every asshole jock.
I inked my wimpy bicep with a bic,
armed myself with blooms and barbed-wire vine.
I dreamed my razor coils would snag a chick,
her throbbing heart ensnared by my design.
Listening to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” tonight,
I feel a blossom desperate to break free
below that old destructive appetite
to fuck the system manually, to be
blunt and beautiful, to get real pissed
and leave a rose each place I plant my fist.

An anthology of the best poems that appeared in the online journal, The Barefoot Muse, 2005-2010, selected and arranged by Anna M. Evans, including poems by Mike Alexander Tiel Aisha Ansari Peter Austin Michael Battram Kendall A. Bell Kate Bernadette Benedict Kim Bridgford Chris Bullard Michael Cantor Catherine Chandler Edmund Conti Maryann Corbett Robert W. Crawford Erica Dawson Frank De Canio Jehanne Dubrow Robert Klein Engler Julie R. Enszer Annie Finch Carol Frith Ona Gritz Lois Marie Harrod Penny Harter Paul Hostovsky Juleigh Howard-Hobson A.M. Juster T.S. Kerrigan Deborah Kreuze David W. Landrum Quincy R. Lehr J. Patrick Lewis Diane Lockward Austin MacRae Laura Maffei James Scannell McCormick Susan McLean Rick Mullin Bruce W. Niedt Eric Norris Amber Norwood Chris O’Carroll Frank Osen Aaron Poochigian Ray Pospisil Jennifer Reeser David J. Rothman Marybeth Rua-Larsen E. Shaun Russell Paul Christian Stevens Clay Stockton Peter Swanson Gail White James S. Wilk.