not sure
story should be told
blowing gum bubbles
seemed it was going well
but trust no one
at paradise’s gate
wishing you dead
spooky laugh, hear!
scale of one to
ten being dead
maybe twelve
name change might help
surgically enhance self-image
no success felt more
lacks self-control in
late day haze
personal geological plates
pushing away bullshit limbo
writing new lyrics
sipping bourbon through
an autobiographical straw
conceiving of new history
your life is no mystery
with its maddening song
giving you something to do
rehab with change working
on long island
in mystic burger joint
up all night sharing
joints, bottles of mad dog
early morning subway rides
capturing life in the long form
and mystery of bad karma
strange being born just here
no choice as to your name
dye your hair a lovely shade of life
call yourself sharen
hide from serious evil jackholes
swerving, slipping, sinisterly to
mystical religious guilt like
keroauc, a seeker,
engage a store front palm reader
it’s your lucky year
with twelve days to go in december
eventually all pull away
some no choice
get caught running red lights
drug busted life sucks fines
blame makes you fucking crackers
gravity is the culprit
back away from self-imposed ledges
avoid pointed questions that get you nowhere
leave your achilles’ deep in the sand
get back to the boardwalk stage and drop
old baggage off in the carnie break tent
Dan Jacoby was born in 1947 in Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Poets. This is the second and final poem in a two-day series The Opiate is publishing by him. Read Day 1 here.
A Shower
(On KM leaving for the Coast in the Summer of Love)
She was restless, splattering about us
& then suddenly, almost unnoticed, Gone —
no one sees the end of a summer rain
Heading for California, her goldmine, her freedom
The Love of Haight stronger than the jet stream
On the way she dipped a toe into Mexico,
Hybrid old Indian, fermenting in the sun
Then finally chased her rainbow all the way
to the coast
Arriving in San Francisco
A picture – with her greenblonde hair and her Quotebook
And her boots
Her eyes wide open to Yabyum the world
Left behind we sit back thinking of her
Waiting for the next breeze to bring a shower
And settle our daze