poem of the day 06.06.11

i have a heart

i have a heart
but sometimes i just
can’t find it

it has a mind of its own

i have a heart
but it is driving down
sunset boulevard in los angeles
looking for one of bukowski’s old haunts

it is hanging out
at the star bar in san diego
drinking scotch and hiding from the sun

i have a heart
but it is drowning in pabst
down on broadway in nashville
right outside of layla’s bluegrass inn

or i heard
it is in memphis
watching the wolf river
meet the mighty mississippi

my heart is going to graceland

i have a heart
but sometimes it
just takes off for new orleans
for a little dixie jazz on frenchman street
or some red beans and rice
at coop’s place on decatur

my heart is a streetcar named desire

i have a heart
but it is on a plane to paris right now
for a vigil a the grave of samuel beckett
it is wandering around stratford-upon-avon
with the ghost of shakespeare
or avoiding oxford street in london

my heart is in madrid
i just know it is
where else would it be?
it is at an irish bar in the plaza de las salesas
taking beers with some good friends

i think i left my heart
in san francisco
right there on russell street

but that can’t be right

my heart is in lowell, massachusetts
it is shuffling through
dallas, denver, and salt lake city

my heart is tipping a beer
on 20th street in chelsea, new york city
in honor of mr. kerouac

i have a heart

i swear i do
because i can sense the void

it just doesn’t want to go out
and get drinks
or attend a dinner party

my heart is not interested in the protest
or in annual budgets

it has retired from a lifetime of hard labor

instead my heart is lurking outside
of the village vanguard
waiting on johnny coltrane to come back
or it is in the MoMA
passing the time with picasso

it is at the grand canyon
or watching trains go by
in grants, new mexico

my heart is probably
stuck at the top of the sears tower, chicago

its pulpy mass reflecting in the june sun

i can just see it there
my heart

looking down
looking down

wondering where in the hell
the rest of me is at.