Sal Mineo

Sal Mineo

In the planetarium

He stared up at the stars.

The galaxies were numberless

And terror overtook him.

He fell onto the floor

And crawled beneath his seat,

Crouched, afraid and small,

In the darkness and alone.

9-14-12

Saints

Obama went like Clinton

In a swift decent from glory

To the rubbish heap

Of saints and bigots.

Old saints are not forgotten.

They make speeches and appear

Next to other candidates

For sainthood in ascendance.

Blacks and gays and immigrants

With nothing to depend on

As though they have the mark of Cain,

Listen to their preachers -

Deliverance is nigh.

 

Lost Love

Sometimes when you are talking

I want to say “I love you”.

I don't know what you'll think

Or feel – so I don't say it.

I don't know what you'll say,

So I simply do not say it.

How many loves gone by
Because I did not speak?

Time as well as loves

Went passing by my window

Unknown and then forgotten

Because I was afraid.

And soon I will be dead

And never have been loved

By someone that I loved.

And the dying earth won't know.

And the dying earth won't care.

Ephemeral Art

Art perhaps is beauty

Made from nothing,

And the artist

Goes to nothing,

While the art remains,

And the art as well

Will not remain.

Fools today who call themselves,

And glory in the word,

“Artist” - live for

Money, drugs and fame.

They'll die like anybody else.

Their fame will not outlive them.

Memory

You move into a house

And cease at last to roam.

What they say in the marketplace

May not be so at home.

You don't remember things

Exactly as he does.

Which of you remembers

The thing the way it was?

Alarming to believe,

Alarming and as grim,

The present and the past

Both belong to him.

Yet you can't believe

Elsewhere than in song

The past that you remember
Is anything but wrong.

The structure of your mind,

Foundation of your bliss

Requires what you remember

Be accurate as this.

 

At Sea

Out upon the ocean,

Far from sight of shore,

Many miles from waves,

But wishing for no more

Than a lone companion

In the craft with you,

You suddenly discover

He wishes for it too.

You do not quite believe it.

Then all at once there's land.

And you hesitantly touch

Another human hand.