Vandalism At The Thrifty Nickel

Vandalism At The Thrifty Nickel

In college I could ace an income statement.

My grades in anthropology were grand.

Like the dinosaur, I'm getting tired.

There's not a thing on earth I understand.

There seems to be a hidden rule in nature.

People want a lover, not a friend.

Those who come on strong with their endearments

Prove to be a bastard in the end.

People are both slippery and fickle.

Integrity and trust go down in flames.

Youth is not eternal. When you're dying,

All you will remember is the games.

Forever sounds a boring proposition,

Even dwelling with the cherubim.

The tragedy of life is very simple.

He loves you, and you do not love him.

11-12-13

 

Talking

I know I'll never have another lover.

I doubt I'll ever have another friend.

I'm much too smelly to attract a lover,

Too tired now to bother with a friend.

I really wish I had someone to talk to.

Very frequently I seem to think

Of interesting thoughts. I'd like to say them.

But Jesus Christ! Not to another shrink!

I have a friend. For 16 years together,

Except a year. He's only half my age.

I think he doesn't like to hear me talking.

I'm silly, selfish, superficial, sage.

He needs a friend who doesn't want his money,

One who's quiet when he starts to cry,

One whose gentleness he can depend on.

This is what he needs. And so do I.

I think I said too much. I am presuming

To guess untold at someone else's needs.

I see somebody wounded in the desert,

I do not stand and wonder while he bleeds.

11-12-13

 

Denny's

Cutting laughter, hateful music -

Denny's Diner, 2 a.m. -

What a place to wake and come to

Just for coffee – go to hell!

People really like this country

And the music, god and wars -

Contemporary and exciting -

An “extreme experience” -

When the truth's too much to handle,

Turn it down and tell a lie -

11-13-13

 

Music

Nothing charming left in music -

Savage beast or savage breast -

Shakespeare didn't say it – someone

Centuries ago who felt -

All the sweetness Shakespeare plundered

In a song of rot and bones -

Decay and god – the loss of music -

Nothing else to ease the world -

“I'll stay at home and play some music,”

Says the angry poetaster -

Risperdal and social workers -

Discontented paranoid -

11-13-13

 

Lines

No one but the ugliest of fiends

Would rob a sick man lying in his bed,

Then go to church on Sunday and ask Jesus

To take her soul to heaven when she's dead.

Pleasant and appealing – she's an actress -

Grateful and sincere – not even half -

Begging even at the gates of heaven -

Even now I hear the angels laugh.

11-13-13