We should legalize drugs, and make poetry illegal. The Mafia would have to make money by running speakeasy underground poetry slams, smuggling Faber & Faber books from Europe, and offering schoolkids a free stanza or two to get them hooked. Kids would all be writing poetry in order to be cool.
there is too much
everything
filling our lives
like a barricade against the door
behind which stands
the simplicity we fear the most
Cherry blossoms fall
Snot bubbles out of my nose
Allergy season
In the Boston Public Gardens there's a row of metal ducks They live off iron filings that they peck from passing trucks. They never need to preen themselves as other ducklings must but once a month with wire wool they polish off the rust. They never waddle to the pond to stop and take a drink. It's just as well 'cause if they did they might fall in and sink.
[1999]
alphanumeric in my pocket, it vibrates another message
just to touch to hold you close to feel your breathing your warmth is all I want or ask for in those moments I feel that I am human
He wore an overall carelessly She wore a hat with abandon He accepted the money with a smile and handed her a hot dog with relish
This is, of course, autobiographical. You’ll have to imagine the music.
Woke up this mornin' made myself some toast Lurked in the hallway waitin' for the post I hope my girl's been gettin' all the letters that I wrote her 'cause I'm stuck here in England and she's in Minnesota [chorus] Got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues I gotta get some transatlantic news You don't want to be in my shoes I got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues Walked to the bus stop to get myself a bus Get my idle butt to work stop makin' such a fuss I don't want you to think that I'm indelicate or crass But I can't stop imagining the curves of her face [chorus] Got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues I dream about her every time I snooze I don't have any air miles left to lose I got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues [instrumental break - handclaps and cowbells] I make it through to lunchtime Stop and take a break Think about my girlfriend What a couple we could make We're gonna get together and I'm gonna try to please her But I might die of frustration while I'm waitin' for the visa [chorus] Got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues Not the kind of contraception I would choose I think I'm goin' blind from self-abuse I got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues Sittin' in the living room waitin' all alone Stayin' up 'til 1AM just so I can phone I can sit and watch TV all night or walk around the yard But when I wake up in the morning it can be kinda hard [chorus] Got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues My VCR's worn out from over-use I'm thinkin' maybe I should hit the booze I got the girlfriend in Minnesota blues
a young man of expressive frame within a box and dressed in black without a chance to be the same the wheels turn no turning back conceding to feel warmth once more approach reluctantly unfair beyond the safety of the door pretending they no longer care in loss oblique and force dramatic acting until pain is drowned repeating now on automatic silence lost nobody found ends now looping to beginning the blade is twisted and withdrawn to restart with no hope of winning chance regained despair reborn
But darling... I'm powered by an elastic band That's why I have to be all twisted up inside