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

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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

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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

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slip & slide right out the picture
new old empty scrapbook

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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

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

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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

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move over Sinatra
your crooned moon
not my shotgun smashed loon

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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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