Posts Tagged ‘illness’

Old Habits

I was blackout drunk,
and I surely stunk
of sweat and dirt and vomit
when I went to that joint
up at Downer’s Point,
hadn’t been there since Halley’s Comet.
But they knew me there
and they poured my share,
made it stiff as rigor mortis,
kept filling my cup
’til the sun came up,
and I rolled out like a tortoise.
Next thing I knew
I was coming to
in my ex- ex- ex-girlfriend’s apartment,
the sun shone unbearable
my head pounded terrible
like a fire at the fire department.
Still I gasped out her name
when I witnessed her frame,
stale and lifeless on the floor by the sink,
my onions were mussed
with fresh blood on my crust
and I thought What’s my AA group gonna’ think?




19

01 2009

the impatient poet – or – perhaps it’s time to update the DSM-IV

i’m sorry, doctor, but it’s happening again
what is this, eleven, twelve times in a row?
i swear i’m not trying to sway this exam
i’m simply reciting the objects you show

another, now another, i can’t take much more
oh please won’t you finally tell me we’re through?
these sessions are making me crazier than before—
that ink blot looks just like an onion bagel too!




08

01 2009

True Story

I
once saw
a baker
toss an onion
in water
boiling
hot.

On
closer
inspection,
it was covered
with tiny
bagels
!!!

“He,”
said I
to no one
but God, “is a
genius.
Also,
he’s

dyslexic.”




22

12 2008