by Travis Mateer

Below is an image from the Tarkio boat launch, west of Missoula. It is my understanding, from multiple sources, that the body of Joey Thompson was found by a property owner somewhere between this point and the Forest Grove boat launch.

The picture at the bottom of the post is graffiti on the concrete wall where Joey Thompson was allegedly last seen. There is also a cheesy pentagram and “I love Satan” tag that looks very high school.

Sometimes things can be accomplished in verse when more conventional forms of communication can’t be used. Is this one of those times? Or am I just a poet who likes to rhyme?

a million little Mansons
like meth rats on the scene
the west it is not Jolly
the west is getting mean

don't you wet the whistle 
of the missile men who flex
pulling down the pillars
for caverns they call sex 

echo is the vibe now
shards of mirror cut
thin reflection isn't twin
fearful lungs will shut

down in river run-through town
where crosses are a joke
where shanty shacks and knife attacks
stem from friends of woke

shit, bro, are you triggered 
can you guess what's next
will I jigger ups a rhyme 
to bring down harshest hex?

witches they are busy
showing boys the knife 
deconstruction everything
now Zooey wants a wife

Joey, on the other hand
waits for crime lab fucks 
well dressed on the stand
but going cluck, cluck, cluck

which, I guess, is better
than going quack, quack, quack
at the Poverello Duck Pond
with red on white and black

hmmm, what am I saying here?
ask Detective Guy
ask about the LifeGuards 
and who controls the time

when it comes to puppy dogs
sniffing out the blood
and little Russian flower girls
with petals on the run

why am I so angry?
lots of people ask
because I pay attention
speak up, then I act

and you?  how about you
sneaking off the hook
is it too uncomfortable
to take a fucking look?

I have said enough
watch out for the rest
the boots I wear are tough
Lord, I did my best

If you haven’t made a donation to support my work, you can do so at my about page, or Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is another way to target my energies toward local action!

Thanks for reading!