Have you ever had a landlord from hell? Well poet B.Z. Niditch sure has…B.Z. NIDITCH is a poet, playwright, fiction writer and teacher. His work is widely published in journals and magazines throughout the world, including: Columbia: A Magazine of Poetry and Art; The Literary Review;  Denver Quarterly;  Hawaii Review,; Le Guepard (France);  Kadmos (France);  Prism International;  Jejune (Czech Republic); Leopold Bloom (Budapest);  Antioch Review; and Prairie Schooner, among others.

THE EX LANDLORD

With the heart of Cain

behind his one cloth napkin

under a pinched chin

at T.V. dinner time unshaved for his faith

or gangland injury

wearing a pentagram

he won

at carnival time,

a once ruddy catcher in a minor league,

pawn broker

stud poker player or house Dick

depending

on whom you meet,

surprising tenants

every first day of the month

with unauthorized letters

to threaten everyone,

stoned on cheap beer

claiming to be ex-military

in Angola

or was it Cuba

with his annual cigar

at Christmas

spitting out of his moist mouth

offering to show us

forged lottery tickets

used Trojans

or fascist posters

of the Forties.
– B.Z. Niditch

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