Richard King Perkins II - The Mad Girl as Scientist

She wandered home from the arid musk

of Petaluma

where insects had preyed 

upon her tender skin

until she rubbed herself down

with Skin So Soft.

She had stood on a promenade

outside a sliding glass partition

listening to her husband’s low laughter

joined by the manicured riposte

of another woman.



Later that night, he returns home

drunk, expended

collapsing heavily into bed.

In fifteen minutes, she holds a knife

in one hand,

a second instrument in the other,

an experiment in the body politic.

He crawls, lobotomized,

on hands and knees

through the house,

trying to find himself,

ignoring the disembodied laughter in his ears

like so many other things.















Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart nominee and a Best of the Net nominee whose work has appeared in hundreds of publications.