POEM: The Truth
The Truth
is beautiful
because it is true
no smear of color
no music
the particularity of pain
the authenticity of grief
a Sicilian quarry
at high noon
bedrock
Despair
POEM: Waugh
Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
wrote the following
to know and love
another person
is the beginning
of all wisdom
if this is true
my darling Nan
my English girl
you have made me
the wisest fool
in all the world
POEM: Survivor
the beautiful bongo
the rarest of antelope
is sensitive as a burn
mishandling alone
may cause its death
a red-headed Jew
(a lesser rarity)
I more than sympathize
the time my girl
left our home
closing the door
upon my guts
I wanted to die
but went on living
(if this is living)
without her
POEM: Pop Tune
Paul Bley
the jazz pianist
has a marvelous track
of The Nearness Of You
one of Hoagy Carmichael’s
great songs
I played it for Kayo
and she loved it
she uses it on
her demo tape
and always plays it
when I visit her gigs
recognizing the tune
I look up
and we smile at each other
across the room
this night the song
moves me to tears
it brings to mind
another time
when one lived
for love and desire
not recognizing them
as way-stations
Kayo of course
only sees my smile
and that’s the way
I prefer it
when the set ends
she walks to my table
her smile like a gift
and asks you liked it
what do you think
I think of loss and regret
of a wife gone
and of a mother
who died alone
I say you played it
beautifully Kayo
POEM: Erica
sitting alone
upon the bench
in front of Murray’s
an old lady
fragile forlorn
facing the void
I sit beside her
I say hello
she turns my way
surprised delighted
we exchange names
Marvin Erica
she turns back
to face the void
life is very sad
isn’t it Marvin
she says to me
yes it is I reply
there comes a time
to tell the truth
even in America
101 Great American Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)
POEM: The Consummate Artist
all art
is illusion and Love
the consummate artist
how else explain
that brief time
I felt no longer
a solitary figure
upon an arid plain
by rusting rails
no longer in use
POEM: "THE PRICE"
THAT EVERYTHING
HAS ITS PRICE
IS TRUE
THE PRICE
FOR LOVING
YOU MY DEAR
WAS YOU