ACE BOGGESS
HOUSE OF WAX
Bryan Foy Productions,
Warner Bros., 1953
I understand the why of it:
someone takes what’s yours,
the art & craft, the fascination—
truest loves of a lonely man.
Could offer, Still got your looks,
but no—that, too. So,
easy to pick up murder
like a dope habit or STD.
Revenge tastes
like old chocolate:
part delight, a bit burnt,
bitter. I said I get it.
I’ve faltered, lost,
watched what I’ve built
torn down. I never killed
but only because my knives
make little wounds.
Ace Boggess is the author of two books of poetry: The Prisoners (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2014) and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled (Highwire Press, 2003). He is an ex-con, ex-husband, ex-reporter, and completely exhausted by all the things he isn't anymore. His writing has appeared in Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, RATTLE, River Styx, North Dakota Quarterly and many other journals. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia.