A Way Out
Money sex power Jesus genuflection
Eradication annihilation a fetish for
Small gray objects Port-au-Prince
Paradise vacation destination human
Sacrifice duty vocation education hard
Work hard living hard drinking hard
Pure talent unbridled by the demands
Of the marketplace this is a joke
Smashing down unpaved roads with
Your headlights black and screaming
For somebody somewhere somehow
To kill you and to save you
___________________________
PICTURE A YOUNG SYDNEY GREENSTREET
This is my new poetry hat – how
Do you like it? Red fez – cool –
I saw a great poet at the Old Miami
Wearing one just like it – I put it on my head
When I sit down at my machine to
Spit out the terrible truth about humanity
That is burning up my soul and also
My tender love songs of loss, hope,
Fulfillment, regret, inspiration –
You know, all that stuff poets
Write about – I wore it to mass once
And the priest gave me a dirty look –
I swear – Father Jerry thinks I’m some
Sort of antichrist or something –
Or maybe he just doesn’t like poets –
There are people like that – I learned
My lesson the hard way
At a Detroit Tigers game – that beer
Sure does make a mess when they pour
It all over you – sticky, too – I had to clean
My red fez with kerosene – but I’m going to
Show them – I’m going to wear it next year
To opening god-damned day – no way, no how –
Will they turn this poet into a clown
Yes to both of these! Yes again!