by David Meltzer

by David Meltzer

Ah, ego
wants everything
all the time
& spaces
silence or blank
page lays splayed
apart for whatever words
pass as art’s moment
despite words’ deep
inability to work

from: A Slew of Blues

blind blues
open eyes to unsee
reach sound but
nobody’s around
except who’s inside
& that’s not me

blues dues
punch my timecard
eternity won’t quit

perfume of where you were
before you shut the door

wine or whiskey
gin or cognac
can’t empty empty

go nowhere
yet give directions

slip & slide right out the picture
new old empty scrapbook

marry & bury blues
& watch the sun rise


griot to earth’s end
heaven’s edge
hassle w/ spirits
defy death
back down &
she’s gone
doesn’t even leave a goodbye note

woke up this evening
on the floor
the door still open
not even the mutt
sleeps w/ me anymore

nobody knows
nobody cares
you’re on your own
so die already
that’s the way things work

uptown or downtown
lowdown is my town

move over Sinatra
your crooned moon
not my shotgun smashed loon

2 world wars
infinite doors
closed or smashed to bits
who knows boundary
w/out passport or visa
an old world terror
new worldly via zip
strip through ATM slot

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