Wednesday, September 30, 2015

poem of the day 09.30.15

cleveland interlude

calvin calls talking mad
something about cleveland
and have you seen….
have you gone…
so we’re west on pa turnpike
passing all the vast pa farms
with stand-up cows grazing in bowing grasses
does standing mean rain or no?
these silly superstitions we make to explain it all
calvin smoking my cigarettes
talking about relationships
i tell him i still haven’t figured out
the end of mary he loves some laura
we hit cleveland off 77 north
really cleveland is no bigger/smaller than pittsburgh
hit e 9th street north harbor complex
lake erie stench glass pyramid rock and roll hall of fame
$13 dollars of blood and sweat money for
and have you seen…
have you gone….
did we even last an hour in there?
music doesn’t need a hall of fame need just be heard
we walk lakeside street dying of hunger
i tell myself i’ll remember cleveland
as gray city smoke stacks mills along the river
shuffling people with heads down waiting for forever buses
just another dirty city dead on sunday afternoon
rubber stamp sculpture blues outside their library
calvin stops everyone on the street
asking for open restaurants
tired clevelanders ending weekends
they don’t know what’s open they smell the pittsburgh on us
euclid street comes to us like a dream
big italian festival with $4 dollar sausages and $2 beer
cleveland girls walking around in pre-summer sex strides
filled with food with girls we walk in wonder
talking excitedly these young lives we’re living
two old friends feeling comfortable
in cleveland for no other reason but to be
calvin tells me great secrets
that i’ll never repeat here
or by christ even in heaven
if there really is a heaven

when this circus finally ends.                                         

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