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Jeff Reed

1141 Bont Lane
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Phone Number
Wind in the Reeds Poetry

Jeff Reed

  • Themed Projects
    • Chiastic Poetry
    • Sea to Sea
    • Animagus Extinctio
    • Under a Runaway Throttle
  • Lent Projects
    • Autophagy Briefs (2026)
    • The Strange Sum of Things (2025)
    • Butterfly Glory (2024)
    • Psalm 37 Menagerie (2023)
  • Poems
  • Songs
  • Books
  • ABOUT

THIRTY-EIGHT

April 17, 2025 Jeff Reed

you hurl words

at me like bullets

from a .38 special,

but I am unmoved.

they bounce off

like grease splatter

on hot teflon.

it hurts more

than I let on 

but no matter,

I stand on

the truth that

I am loved and

worth loving:

this my flak 

jacket. not 

impervious but

it's something.


Note: American chemist Roy J. Plunkett accidentally discovered the non-stick polymer, Teflon, on April 6, 1938, which ended up revolutionizing cookware. The .38 Special was the standard revolver for law enforcement from the 1920’s until 1990.

← THIRTY-NINETHIRTY-SEVEN →

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