July 2024
Bio Note: I’m a public library librarian and an old-time style banjo player - performed at Caffe Lena, Skidmore College, schools, etc. In 2021 I received a grant to publish a book of poems based, in part, on my time working as a building super in Manhattan - Downtown Super Tells All.
If a Poem is a Shot
If an OK novel
Is a few cases
Of light beer
And a good
Poem is a shot
Of tequila
And an old
Friend’s memoir
Is an artisanal
IPA
Then the
Question that
Torments me
All day and
All night
(and I’m
Unable to
weigh
The anticipation
Against the
Despair
That comes
after)
Is what
Sweet drink
That burns
And rocks
Are you
My love?
Poem for Sale
I think I’ll try to sell
My poem to a fast food
Chain or international
soft drink corporation.
Because it needs to
Get on TV and the
Snap internet Web
Chat for anyone
To give a crap about
It.
It will no doubt require
A government warning
For the mental health
Of seniors and people
With underlying literary
Conditions. And they’ll
Also need to hire attractive
Young people singing
And/or dancing to
The upbeat lonely
Polyrhythmic beat
That I’ll dig up
On the street or
Way down deep
In my heart.
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL