Defiance wasn’t in me.
Cigarette smoke and anger exited passed his yellowed teeth. “This isn’t poetry!” His sallow complexion reddened. “I can write this way, but I choose not to write this way. I’m a poet, you’re a poseur.”
Inside myself I was weeping. This was how our friendship ended.
offbeatjim wittenberg

Mother’s scream. My hampered breathing. The neighbor boy leaping over the brick fence that separated our backyards and escaping immediate punishment. The world viewed momentarily as if it were floating beyond a blurry window.
“Never, never let someone place a plastic bag over your head!”
This memory unceasingly tormenting me.
offbeatjim wittenberg

“She’s better than you,” said his mother.
Despite this, the son pursued his favorite and succeeded in winning her intimacy.
Now, eighteen years into this mismatch, with their two children and his scandalous pursuit of numerous liaisons, the son and his wife belatedly admit the soundness of his mother’s admonition.
offbeatjim wittenberg

“You’re deaf,” she stated. He heard it as an accusation. It was true, too. At least partially, in his right ear, he was deaf, but Carl would never admit this truth to Aileen.
Certainly not when her statement sounded like an accusation.
“No I’m not,” was all he replied.
offbeatjim wittenberg

The blonde Viking laundrywoman wears her braids up. She works the washers and dryers throughout the night. She’s easy to speak with at break time. Her sharp-tongued girlfriend stridently mars the hospital hallways with the black heels of her white boots. I’m continuously mopping and polishing the floors.
Offbeatjim Wittenberg

Destroying the wagon took minutes. Starting with the handle, he broke it at the hinge. The final parts to come undone were the wheels. He was satisfied, but only a moment later his fears were overwhelming. Some other children, and what looked to be their father, were running his way.
offbeatjim wittenberg

We drive down from the cold mountains at night because the heat of the day in the desert will kill us. Any songs we memorize as we travel are forgotten beneath the sand where we bury ourselves in our final attempt at living.
offbeatjim wittenberg

To me she seemed mean-tempered. Her husband said, “My old lady’s eyeballing you. Turn my back long enough, she’ll do you.”
Right then I decided to keep out of her kitchen.
offbeatjim wittenberg

Early on she sensed confusion, vulnerability and fear behind his eyes. Later, after reaching adulthood, she once again saw his eyes and behind their civility she sensed ferocity and a calculating mind. She still also sensed fear. Her own.
offbeatjim wittenberg

The man sighed, then he turned and walked away. The woman was beautiful and he wanted to say to her that they once knew each other, but as he thought about it he realized it had been a different lifetime.
offbeatjim wittenberg