DAZZLED
RUINED REMADE & DAZZLED
Though on the surface it seemed every person was different,
this was not true. At the core of each lay suffering; our eventual
end, the many losses we must experience on the way to that end.
(Lincoln in The Bardo George Saunders Booker Man Prize 2017)
Last night’s show East Texas troubadour Steve married 8 or 9 times
Numbers 5+6 the same woman Began seeing him some 25 yrs. ago Heroin
chic hair to his waist Prison would soon take the sheen Bikers no longer
fill the seats Or could these greyish old folks be old bikers? Hard to know
Where do old Hell’s Angels go? Does the road end at the Danforth Music Hall?
Some with canes vacant eyed Bird tattoo between scavenger shoulder blades
on one babe Bouncers pat you on the shoulder ie., It’ll be ok dear DO NOT pat
you down though I begged to be He was burly thick fingered a bit dirty
Earlier in the day a very old man lay on the floor as nurses walked slowly toward
him so as not to alarm the lunch crowd Restaurants we frequent now full of the
aging population But don’t let the bastards get you down It is also true that while
we are all the same in our creaturestowarddeathness We are all burled battered +
dazzled in entirely unique ways
3 billion gaze at the stars nightly +only 1 sees flashlights Ditto old bikers with
sagging tattoos Their greyish womenfolk looking out of hollow eyes Some large
breasted amazons who in the midst of cellular degeneration crack wizened smiles
that say: Underneath this Steve Earle t-shirt is strapped the gold of the alchemists
with which you can barter for immortality on your way across the Styx
The thick fingered bouncer too thick to be slipped the answer He sees only
innocence +ruin on old chapped lips Only 1 sees epiphany: Those who know
the difference between being DEAD +being ALIVE shall enter the kingdom of
heaven All others will be sent back to earth to practice being alive
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Fall 2017
songanddancegirl 