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Writer's pictureLuke Ramer

Dismembered Memories

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The TV news says I’m a killer, but I don’t remember…


I yearn for my youth, those early memories I still retain

Snowy nights with my parents on December trains

Before old age and the cracks in my brain

Celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve

Before the disease


Now I sit on the edge of this rotten motel mattress

The TV says I’m a killer, and maybe they’re right

Since I discover a body

In the bloody bed with me tonight

Who is it? — it can’t be said

Since the body has no arms, no legs, no head



The news declares me a public enemy

A surveillance photo—I look gray and tired

Images of victims that don’t jog my memory

My recollections have all expired

The TV claims that I’m wanted and dangerous—

I look at my weak, drooping flesh and think—they can’t be serious


Who can I trust when I don’t know myself?

I don’t know how to feel

Where do I turn when nothing looks familiar?

Were those December trains even real?


All I know is I’m in this motel room and it’s dark and—

Wait, hold on, Jesus Christ, where did this body come from?!


I sit on the edge of the bed

Panic and confusion in my head


What bothers me most

Isn’t the torso under the covers

What bothers me most

Is my craving for another


The TV news says I’m a killer, but I don’t remember…





Original Artwork by Steve Ramer, check out his site @ Steve Ramer (famousbaseballplayers.net)


Additional Artwork generated with Nightcafe


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1 Comment


Priscilla Bettis
Priscilla Bettis
Oct 07, 2022

What bothers me most/isn't the torso under the covers... oh goodness, this is one dark poem! Nice one!

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