Poem of the Day 01.19.09

me and this

me and this
packed like all hell
in a glorified cellar
with wine and bright lights
and the dust of dead poets
scattered on cornelia street

don’t we stink?

me and this
left impotent
where we stand
before the first words
are said

left impotent

like people buying shit
they don’t need
on saturday afternoons

left impotent

like people in big cars
looking to be lead
going green and global
in grocery stores
full of oil and plastic

left impotent

like warmongering
and rock star presidents
pissing on the new
american night
in prime time

left impotent

like champagne
and passenger airplanes
floating on hudson river ice

me and this
surviving the morning
the afternoon and the bitter night
and our stench
our horrible, rancid stench

left impotent

by 52, 26 paychecks a year
until death
and the bills are paid
until a suicide we didn’t know
we had coming
blindsides us
during a commercial break

me and this
you and i
pushing this down into
the pit of our rotted stomachs
drinking scotch and beer
in bed
in the cold of
a january friday afternoon
the music low
tolerating me and this
until we don’t exist

you and i
that is to say
me and you
that stands to reason
with each other
until the next reckoning
me and this.