poem of the day 01.05.15

we built this city

            --for nathan kukulski

there is an unmistakable

stench of rot in the air

on this train it smells of garlic

i’m trying to kill the final days of the year

reading baldinger’s poems

but the guy two seats up from me

has his little magic machine playing 1980s music

we built this city on rock and roll

jesus christ, i think, is he serious?

i’ve got thirty years of animosity towards this song

long rides with my parents

while they fought about money and rent

overtop that sort of happy tripe

skating parties with perky-breasted girls

from wealthy, catholic families

who wouldn’t touch my fat and sweating hands

if it meant their life

i’ve got animosity bubbling anew

and i’ve read the same line at least four times now

because we built this city

we built this city….so that assholes like this guy

will always have their way

no matter how low down on the food chain we are

the working class will eat the working class first

i put the baldinger down for a moment

grab my own little magic machine

i put on erik satie but it doesn’t matter

satie isn’t enough to kill what grace slick

worked so hard to destroy on her own

so this is how another year winds down?

bad pop music, garlic and another crowded train

most likely it began like this too

i just sit there with the book of baldinger’s poems open

the satie flaccid and not of the moment

accidentally make eye contact with the guy sitting next to me

until he looks down and grabs his phone

calls one of his friends while tapping his feet to the music

his face only coming alive

when someone shows up to save him

on the other end

while i think there’s not even enough vodka at home

to shake them all off tonight