King Perishable: How long do you think it will it take for them to forget me?
The Expiration Sticker: Such a remarkable peacock. Just look at that colorful light fanning across the horizon line. How many eyes, King Perishable, do you think it has touched this evening?
King Perishable: How many days have I wasted staring into a worthless mirror?
The Expiration Sticker: Like today? You think too much, King Perishable. And often only of yourself. In the end you’re just like everyone, a passing flatulent, a momentary relief.
King Perishable: I swear I tried hard to make them know me, to know what I stood for.
The Expiration Sticker: And they have known you as you’ve stood, and they will certainly know you as you fall.
King Perishable: Ah, there—look at that! The light, the light, the matchstick struck!
The Expiration Sticker: (Momentarily still and silent. The Expiration Sticker sings):
Another king’s crown hath touched the ground
Another king’s crown hath made that sound
Another king, another thing
Just a little more bling
that means nothing
Manuel Paul López’s books include Nerve Curriculum (Futurepoem), These Days of Candy (Noemi Press, Akrilica Series), The Yearning Feed (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Ernest Sandeen Poetry Prize, and Death of a Mexican and Other Poems (Bear Star Press). He lives in San Diego and teaches at San Diego City College.