Poisonous Venom

Poisonous Venom

In the autobiography of my life
I wanted to use a word

I've never before written down
so I rose up out of my chair

and cracked open a dictionary
and, eyes tight shut, stuck

my own finger by random chance
on the word pleonastic.

I received this word as a free gift
and here's a true fact:

the Sierra mountains are never
a safe haven for tuna fish.

This is no unexpected surprise—
just as the armed gunman

out on frozen ice usually carries
a gun.