4
Don’t tell me doomsday to get a job
slave-driving country, alkie at the wheel
reinstate the draft; hair cut in a bob,
do i look pretty, playing scales, we deal
wait a little, until this all blows over
look out, sister, I don’t answer to the Hague
Irish idiot driving reckless round the clover
leaf—get on the interstate, catch the plague
driving, back in the eighties, fastest of all,
no thought of disease, luck of the draw,
(won’t happen to me; come out of the stall),
got German cabbage stuck up in my craw
Can i help it if i think highly of me?
grave monkey, playing my heart strings,
i’m going down, dear friend, in history
think of the protest; think of no kings,
answering myriad questions: you ain’t well
dead set on your direction, skinny blond
bombshell; idiot, fool, you’ll go to hell,
around the time His brother will abscond
a slight change in frequency, goes left
and right; i get a sense this relationship
this complicated person, now bereft
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - a blip
on my radar, wild cat out of the bag
would seek to scratch my eyes out
with a certain wayward need to brag -
already an ex—what is she on about?
Well, she’s on about everything, and
it’s nothing to do with me, sleeping,
as she does, with toast and his hand
we broke up years ago—this yearning
is a mixed blend of vitriol and envy
wanting, as i do, to be in her position—
going to the presidency, greatness
and, for starters, no end to my condition
choosing, as i do, the very best, not
her, not You, both famous and impressed
scot-free and glad—cheating on the lot,
this is painful for the two of us to watch
i can’t date you, alas, treating the fungus
on my toes, this could take ages,
waiting, love, for the parts that I cuss,
the dead parts, forever, to grow out
only then can I accost you, lucky to
be You, living in the spot-light, i hate
everything that separates me from you;
treating my toe fungus: then i’ll skate
shut you out of my life, sex with my friend
don’t want to see you, lass, anymore,
you make me think, mostly, of the end,
eyes see you differently, so You floor
the gas, pedal to the metal, not right
for each other—wanting notoriety
more than each other, get out of my sight
you remind me of his failure, big empty
straight ahead; loving a woman that makes
me wish—somehow—that i was dead;
counting on New York, a car, tiny snowflakes
that set us apart: don’t let it go to your head
buy a house in Washington, home for me
make peace with the world, i drive them home,
tortured with envy—can’t stand your glee
to be out and about, good night: shalom