poem of the day 08.11.10

gravy

endless summer
of ninety degree sweat
double wars raging
unemployment never ending
had a job
didn’t have a job
had a job again
it’s like an abusive relationship
millions of us coming home
on evening busses
tired, debauched, demoralized
coming from jobs that
no one wants
millions more of us
looking for jobs
no one wants
greasy desperation
the jackass and the elephant
dueling over nothing
because there is nothing
anemic sports stars struggling
to hit the long ball without the juice
year of the pitcher
outrageous electric bills
and distant hotels waiting
on the west coast
shedding cats
ripped couches and misery
stale beer and corked wine
scotch hangovers blazing
like the sun
dead flesh cooking in crude oil
gravel roads
immigrant paper posts to fat, stolid cops
streetlight blackouts
infrastructure breakdowns
sewage backups
rotten tomatoes and peppers
coming from wonderland

but the student loan people
are cutting me a 1% break on interest
and i found my comb
hidden underneath a stack of rejected poems

so it’s all gravy for me
from here on out.

08.10.10