PAYBACK

he gets up from the couch
body aching
full of exhaustion
from living as fast and hard
as he thinks necessary

in the bathroom
in front of the mirror
he looks at his own reflection
his black eye
fucked up haircut
and somehow eager smile

and when he feels
good enough
like the reflection has given him something
he brushes his teeth
and pulls out a spool of floss

he hopes
that it has been long enough
since the last time
that his gums will bleed

because there’s something about it
something he really likes
about blood

it makes him feel
like he’s giving back to the world