Gnashing Teeth Publishing

| words that get in your teeth

Death By Narcissism @ Niagara Falls – Matt Heitland

Matt Heitland Author Photo

Death By Narcissism @ Niagara Falls

With a cellphone and one small step backward
man captures the sunlight through the mist.

His full-lipped pout screwed into a sneer
with the everlasting roar of American Falls over his shoulder.

Everyone Instagrams from Horseshoe,
but his mother always crowed how he was special

as she pinched his cheeks hard enough to raise a flush.
This is his Martini Shot,

the selfie he will filter into transcendence.
Couple it with an envy inducing caption. Maybe:

“so humbling to be in the presence of such power,”
or just #blessed #livingthedream.

He imagined ex-girlfriends hitting the heart button,
not to serve the whim of a clickbait overlord,

but from the insidious desire to ditch their husband
and kids. He extended his selfie stick to seize

the daylight moon and its reflection of the sun.
And as his backfoot struggles searching for something,

anything solid, he slips into emptiness as the perfect
sentiment strikes him:  ENJOY EVERY MOMENT in all caps.

 Bio: Matt Heitland lives with his wife in San Diego & writes poetry less frequently than he should.

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