You already know
What I want you to do
You already know
What I want you to do
I’ve instructed you gently,
Inconspicuously
And now, I want you
To take a small step
One that brings you
Closer to me
The words are there,
On the tip of your tongue
These thoughts stoke fire
Under your skin
Come into the light,
Let me gaze upon you
You cannot finish
Until we begin
Staggering, stumble
In my direction
You already feel me
Catching your fall
A simple genteel
Reciprocation
Opens you up
To a gentleman’s call
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
For my friend, Johnny Prince, wherever he may be.
Quest for truth
Uncontrollable spasms
Victims of bad decisions
I have no problem
With the situation
Except that I brought it up at all
I too, fall short at times
At times, on my face⠀
The walls often disappear
But they always come back
Look out for your friends
Or else you’re not
Looking out for yourself
Make excuses for death:
It cannot help itself,
The way it often acts at parties,
After a few drinks⠀
A scallop bleeds
Blue, checkerboard patterns
In the snow banks of Missouri
Fried food is rather popular
Down there;
Great Kings work in small,
Greasy food joints
Where it is proclaimed that
On the eighth day
God created fishnet stockings
And we saw
That they were good
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
From the book Next
we project our
hopes and fears
onto people
we don’t
even know
you can find out
that you don’t
really know someone
even after many years
of living with them
and even as you’re
learning
that person,
they’re changing
all the time
and so are you
safety is an illusion
you are not safe
nor am I
what look like
green flags, today
seem bright red,
tomorrow
the thing that, today,
made you recoil,
because you
thought you saw
scarlet
you come,
later on,
to appreciate
as being
a stable,
comforting
emerald green
safety?
thefuckisthat?
I’ve never
been safe
not once
not even when
I was sure
I’d found
safety
you aren’t
safe
not so long
as you’re
dealing with
people
you roll the dice,
like everybody else
the only sensible
approach to
dealing with people
is to assume
that it’s
not going to
work out
but to behave
as if it will
work out
until they give you
some kind of
undeniable reason
to walk away
not some
superficial “ick,”
a childish picayune,
but a genuine
dealbreaker
and if that
never happens,
well then,
lucky you
nice work,
if you can get it
me?
I have
gone completely
into hiding,
many times,
often for years
at a stretch
I crawl out of my cave
only if something
seems particularly
interesting
I stopped looking for
greens and reds
because looking for them
never had any actual
bearing on the outcome
not once
now, I just assume
90% of the women
I encounter
are not going to be
worth the time of day
experience has taught me that
and the remaining 10%?
well, I won’t know
until I find out
the hard way
never learning
from your mistakes
is dumb
but being
too cautious
about the possibility
of making
some mistakes
that you might
learn from
is boring ⠀
and lonely
green and red
aren’t really
the best colors,
anyway
I’m more partial to
black and purple,
blues and grays
you are
not safe
nor am I
Vaya con Dios, amigo
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
I crawl into the womb of death
By evening
I crawl into the womb of death
By evening
I, fetus-like, encumbered
By the naive expectations that
I, childlike, mistake for dreams
I, quietly humbled,
Tug and tear at my many skins
With the teeth of anxiety…
Light the wick of castration,
Come, clear eyed, to the morning
So that existence might say:
The fort is secure,
No danger from the
Chipper, patronizing advances
Of winter⠀
I have tended bar at many a fool’s convention
While they conversed of heaven, piety, hell,
Struggle, etc, though not one of them had
Touched any of these
I grasped and tugged at the coattails
Of bishops and entrepreneurs,
Who cast aside cities, like empty matchbooks
I dabbed at their spilled martinis
And imported beers, with my beard,
Offered them my white robe, to dry their hands
Gurus shuffled nervously about, eating their karma
Waiters, offering caviar on crackers
They talked of Death as though She were a waitress,
Whose butt they would pinch, as She fluttered by,
In Her short shorts, eager to serve them
Rainbows fall into their pockets,
When they aren’t looking
Kings of the calm, quiet, opiate dream
Make stew with the meat of baboons,
The plate is garnished with money, fruit of the jungle
Master painters and artisans of steel come around
With bowls of cool water and cloths to wipe away
Delirium sweats of malaria
They are followed closely by
Children, carrying shrimp and pineapple on skewers
Ice sculptures and chandeliers, carved out of rain,
Dance around in the smoke
The light plays tricks on their appearances
Pictures woven into tapestries
Tell the tales of dark champions, who teach
The meaning of dark truths, through terms like ‘box cutter’
“Now, on to the evening’s entertainment!” they shout
Down into the dungeons and out come the lions,
Crushing entire civilizations in their jaws
The timid are made short work and all applaud;
The lions go off to sleep⠀
These walks on the moon are no longer
The pleasant outings they once were…
Or at least, that they seemed to be
But now, we succumb⠀
Necessary submissions to the
Keeper of forgetfulness;
Due process⠀
I do my part,
Reluctantly
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
From the book Next by Kevin Trent Boswell, published in May of 2020
Next is NOT for the faint of heart, and is not FDA approved. It is exceptionally habit-forming, extremely volatile, and politically incorrect, generally insensitive and rude, should not be mixed with SSRIs, NSAIDs, NSAs, CIAs, FBIs, or milk. Do not read this book under any circumstances. You will be butt hurt and you will cry. Then, you will pout, and then you’ll climb a clock tower with a potato gun and much carnage is certain to ensue. You have been warned, by somebody else, because I think it is pretty fuckin’ great. But then again, I’m an asshole. Not available in some counties of East Virginia or West Dakota.
Nobody tells you
That all the rules they give you to follow
Are only meant for you and not them
They’re meant to be sandbags to
Keep you from getting ahead or
Becoming happy
You only find this out when you see them
Bragging about how they got something
Only because they were brave enough
To say to hell with the rules
Nobody warns you that the people
Who were supposed to protect you and
Care for you more than anyone else
Will often go to the most extreme lengths
To crush your spirit
It’d be nice if someone would tell you
Ahead of time that some of the things
You felt most confident about
Would turn out to be your
Biggest mistakes
And some of the things you put off
Because of how much they terrified you
Would be the best things you ever did
There’s no owner’s manual that
Gives you a heads up about your friends
How some of them are actually
Enemies in disguise
And others, others will be so dear to you
That you will weep from missing them
Long after they are dead
Or simply drift out of your life
If you knew this, you’d punch the
First group in the face
The very next time you saw them
And the second group, you would
Throw your arms around them
And squeeze them tight and tell them
That they’re the most important people
On the face of the earth
You wouldn’t let go until you were
Certain that they knew how much
You loved them
But in all fairness, no one is able
To accurately tell you who will betray you
So you just love all of them like that
Until you learn who is actually who
Nobody prepares you for the boredom
Of that great new job you landed
Nobody explains why animals
Are more full of love than people;
Except for those genuine friends
We already mentioned
But it doesn’t take long to
Discover these things
If you’re reasonably intelligent
And paying attention
You will find yourself a job
That you can tolerate well enough
You will surround yourself with
A very small handful of those
Genuinely good people and
Keep them as friends, always
Nobody tells you in advance,
The things that turn you on in private
They aren’t actually wrong,
Even though everyone says they are
As long as you only do those things
With the people who genuinely want
To do them with you
If you are exceptionally wise,
You will completely ignore
Absolutely every single thing
That any other person ever tells you
About who, how, when, where, and why,
When it comes to how you go about
Loving another person
Because none of those people
Actually want you to have love
They don’t want to see you giving love
To anyone else, either
They want to see you miserable,
So they can feel better about
Their misery
The only instruction you really need is
Something you already understand:
Don’t do anything that you know
Would break the heart of the person
You love
Even if you are positive that they will
Never find out about it
Unless you are brainless,
You will quickly discover the value
Of animals as friends, and
The benefits of talking to small children
As if they were already adults,
Treating them with respect
And kindness
And you will cut the throat of
Anyone who messes with your
Loved ones, especially if you are
Lucky enough to have that
Very special someone,
Because most people never
Get one of those, because they pursue
Money, prestige, looks, power, and
Cheap thrills, instead
And you will strangle the life out of
Anyone who hurts your friends;
The good ones, that is
Because the bad ones,
You might strangle them, yourself
And you will put a bullet
Through the heads of anyone
Who hurts children or animals
But you cannot save the whole world
This world is a hell,
Broken and irreparable
You are only one person,
And you will go mad
Trying to prevent the infinite,
Torrential, immeasurable
Slew of evil
That befalls all those who dwell
In this miserable, haunted place
So, everyone else…
Fuck ‘em
They’re all
On their own
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
sometimes, the answer is a quiet no
sometimes, the answer
is a quiet no
if there is no water,
stop digging the well
it’s best to listen
when the wind doesn’t blow
when the moon is dark
and the stars don’t tell
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
