Bad Boy
by Ivan Jenson

I still know the basics
I look both ways before
crossing the street to my desires

I say thank you
to each morning
and please
to the powers
that help me 
make it 
through the night

I do unto
lovers as they
do unto me

and I know
the virtue
of patience
when life yields
no pleasure
and provides
only pain

I honor
my mother
as I watch her
flicker in her chair
in front of the TV

and my father
who sleeps
in the form of
ashes long ago
swallowed
by the fishes of
the Pacific ocean

and I try my best
not to let lust
rule my senses

yet sometimes
seeing
the girls of summer
makes me feel
like I am walking
on  hot coal
burning
up my
best behavior

and that is when
Mr. nice guy
steps into a phone booth
and comes out
a very
bad boy





































Ivan Jenson has enjoyed unprecedented success publishing his poetry in the US and the UK and he has received recognition for his bold Pop Art. His Absolut Jenson painting was featured in Art News, Art in America, and he has sold several works at Christie's, New York. Ivan is highly sought after for his popular and dynamic live readings on the stage and radio. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Word Riot, Zygote in my Coffee, Camroc Press Review, Word Catalyst Magazine, Poetry Super Highway, Alternative Reel Poets Corner, Underground voices magazine, Blazevox, and many others. He now writes novels and poetry in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Visit his website.