The funny thing about a poem
is it doesn't have to be good
it just has to be written.
If it is unwritten it is worse than bad
it is non-existent.
If it is non-existent then you can't have
your token existential crisis.
And what would you do with yourself then?
Go back to Zen
Go back to backyard barbecues
Go back to pool cues and railroad tracks
abandoned cars and factories and
the elevator that they told you to never take all the way down to the basement
The giant building on Pershing and 37th
that used to be a place
where thousands of people worked
is now a little like a Ghost town
and they rent out areas for companies
like the sound company I worked for
to store gear
and I always took the stairs.
I passed the little office window
where they used to put in time cards
and imagined the factory workers
It was strange and so desolate
on of many insane things I've done
not more insane than not writing
a poem though.
It's so simple.
Why be scared?
It's not an elevator going down to a boogie man
it's not a strange basement in a whore house
covered in blood and grime
and salesmen with smiles
and frozen handshakes
It's not a rotten deal
It's not a politician's crime
It's just a poem
it's just a line.