Clint Margrave: Add Insult to Injury
Punctuation Marks
She used to text an exclamation point
after everything
and it used to drive me nuts.
Hey! What are you doing tonight?!
Eventually I acclimated
and would reply, Nothing!
How about you?!
Later, when we married,
she’d double-down if she were out
and send I love you!!
I’d reply, I love you too!!
Even once the fights started
she continued to use them
and I used them right back:
Asshole!!! Fuck you!!!
Fuck you too!!!
Her last message just said,
I’m sorry
my last message just said,
I’m sorry too
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What the Mechanic Said
Something about a leak
and blowing smoke through a hole.
Something about a crack
and the rain that’s coming.
Something about a warning,
and something about making it last.
Something about stalling.
Something about running.
Add Insult to Injury
Measure with a cup.
Or just drizzle it on.
Cook for twenty minutes.
Eat alone.
Clint Margrave is the author of Salute the Wreckage (2016) and The Early Death of Men (2012), both published by NYQ Books. His work has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac, as well as in New York Quarterly, Rattle, Cimarron Review, Verse Daily, Word Riot, and Ambit (UK), among others. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
