Friday, August 13, 2010

poem of the day 08.13.10

disheveled

i see you sitting there
he says
only it doesn’t look like you

but it is you
he says

only you’re slouched
instead of upright

your hair is greasy
and it looks long

what’s this? he asks
rubbing his trim beard
then pointing at my unkempt one

it just has to grow in
i explain

he waves me off

i don’t know
he says

wrinkled clothes
greasy, long hair
scraggly beard

something is wrong here
for sure
you look seedy

disheveled
he says

then he walks away
without asking the question
he meant to ask

everyone is a fucking critic.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again.. you took me there.. actually had me wanting to shove the wise-ass..
your closing line bangs...

John Grochalski said...

Lynne..thanks....guess the stress on the job is starting to show on me on the outside. still, i dont walk into stores et al, and tell the people working there that they basically look like shit.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Had a guy say I ought to get cleaned up - less Whitman, more Hemingway ...

That'll be great, I can look forward to blowing my head off.

Some customers think they own you. Fortunately, keeping a correct perspective by realizing, with this guy anyway, that he makes shit appealing. I'm with Lynne, solid poem, bro.

John Grochalski said...

don...it's a trip being a public servant.
speaking of whitman...thinking of starting up a petition to get a statue of him in NYC or Brooklyn, down by the East River. We have the literary walk in Central Park but nothing, nothing for Whitman...hell, even most of his old haunts are gone...except the facade of Pfaff's, his bar, which is now a fucking shoe store

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

A shoe store! He'd probably see the practicality, but not much like the prices.

A statue in Brooklyn ... the thing to do. They've been thinking about closing the libraries in his other hometown,Camden. I think they got that one straightened out though.

John Grochalski said...

don...that's probably the only thing they have worked out in Camden. I envision a statue at the banks of the East River, looking toward Manhattan.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Now there's a Facebook page to start ...