loves
the smell
of his own farts.

Billings was different.

his
were so bad
he had to get up
and leave the room.

that’s
probably why
he never got married.

it was horrible.

no woman
stayed very long.

even his dog ran away.

twice.

which was
okay with Billings.

he didn’t mind
being alone.

he
liked
the quiet.

it
gave him
time to think.

and listen to his music.

no one
liked his music either.

life,
for Billings,
was almost perfect.

if he
could only
get used to the
smell of his own farts.

Image Credit:Nick Fewings

In a career spanning more than 50 years as a working writer, John Yamrus has published 26 volumes of poetry, 2 novels, 3 volumes of non-fiction and a children’s book. He has also had more than 2,000 poems published in magazines and anthologies around the world. Selections of his work have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Swedish, French, Japanese, Italian, Romanian, Albanian, Estonian and Bengali. His poetry is taught in numerous colleges and universities. His website is: http://www.johnyamrus.com