Thursday, June 16, 2016

Jay Passer- Three Poems



BORN AT THE END OF THE LINE

can’t write about
smoke
only pollution
what about birds
choked in oil spill
talk about flightless
try growing wings
I used to be languid
silvery at the bar
joking to scotch
on the rocks
and jukebox rumble
it was cool so cool
that it’s now
on ice
can’t write anymore
about how I used
I used you
my love my body
that day when
it was raining
the prelude to
armageddon
I used to be romantic
now the birds 
choke 
on our refuse



LIKE A MIDDLE FINGER

I could watch a Western
I could eat a pineapple
I’m lucky that way
get on my bike
go get a book
at the market choose between 
a hundred different cheeses
in the drawer
there’s shirts made
in China, India, Haiti, Mexico, Malaysia
I could go play the ponies
or frisbee golf
or hit the strip club
and suck down vodka rocks and shoot speedballs
till the neon blurs
and the vein bursts
I could wake up
turn on the fan and have hard boiled brains for breakfast
and walk the promenade
along the Embarcadero
with gulls crying
the bay water slapping beneath the piers
hit Chinatown for dim sum then
Washington Park to study
Tai Chi dancers or somber cathedral arches or Coit Tower
like a middle finger thrust into the sky
I could trade it 
all
for a razor blade
or a bullet
or a nice long pharmaceutical dream
say I wasn’t into histrionics



ORLANDO

it won't stop
50 dead in Orlando
bear in mind those arms you bear
meant to defend your freedom
not senseless slaughter of innocents
it can't stop
humanity is at population overload
and all time spiritual low
while munitions corporations keep us force-fed
media dropping 'bombs'
how many films out of 10 where a person doesn't
get blown away
stop it
"why should I
I have a right to my opinion
I have a right to bear arms
I have a right to be ignorant
I have a right to be insane
I have a right to walk into a club and hate on
total strangers"
it won't stop
it can't stop
until humanity drops the I
in favor of we
we're waiting
we'll be waiting a long time
but in Orlando the wait is over
 
 

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