21st Century


Fame that lasts the length of your life
But not a moment longer -
Putting your heart into books of verse
That you sell like a common monger -


If you cannot sell the books,
When you die they're swept away -
But the eternal moon glows down
On a polluted bay -


Disposable love, disposable sex,
Disposable everything -
What makes Edgar Allen Poe
Better than Stephen King?


6-22-13

Shakespeare


Did Shakespeare have an education?
Did he write the plays?
Genius doesn't need an education.
Just Classical mythology,
History and words,
In the crucible of his imagination.
And Keats grew up to be a pharmacist.


6-22-13

Still


She phoned.  I took the call.
I said, “Why don't you go away?
You took all that we had.
Are you now preparing for the future?”
She told me, “Go to hell!”
I said, “Yes, and when I do
I'll see people I already know.”


6-22-13