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modern day malady.
m'lady, do you think...
or, stop and question
mark (?) - laughter, jolly
42 years down the drain
don't want to rain on the
going away parade/party, but
he said he didn't want any hubbub
didn't he? i like that he said he
didn't want to ride because he had
riders - to get that maybe you had
to be there - mixed up - in midst -
war, war, war. 'i got a call from
the government' one said and said
this weekend is it. other one say
'i heard march the second, 'cause
of the new moon.' - salad, fork,
eating cherries and ordering desert,
the only one - symbolic and yet not
symbolic - laughter - smile, ok?

stress tension ball - no pun intended -
or maybe not even a pun unless you're
from
the area

am i next? am i next? fear in the air
breeds uncomfortable atmosphere - that
or just pretend it's not happening 'cause
it's not happening to you and go on with
your life.

stop. report. objectify and realize -
strive. bounce.
relate. translate.
orchestrate. reach out.
email around for other
lines of work for other
masters perhaps or time
to hit the open road &
roam for a while thru
rome all modernized,
modern i said,
you heard me, didn't u?

time stretches out -
leisurely pace - traced
outlines of a novel found
on a hard drive from years
ago - don't remember it and
maybe i really shouldn't - in-
stead concentrating on the book
about the poet amongst the big media
boardrooms, looking around, trying to
hide the aghast look from his face -
no
emo-
tions
displayed
dismayed
replayed
(as in 'played for
a fool' -
again.

a gain -
foot or inch -
and they hop back
three or more and yet
somehow still remain on
top - economies of scale
is ruthless, but let's face
it - not that hard to run -
into the ground -
workers pause
reflect wonder
continue working
answering phones
and faxing faxes
trust and texans
don't forget you
-r taxes. please

oh how to capture in words
this moment now,
trying to describe
how and the when of
the present moment
wherein i ponder
pleasantly the
seasons of
distress -
witness to
what has happened in the world today.
witness to the one way, yeah that way.

smile, and try to not let the hate
control me - so human of an emotion
to hate is so easy and you know what
they say that about things that are
easy, don't you?

if you do
please send
it to me or
my estate if
for some strange
reason this poem
comes upon the
public at large
at some later time -

how to do an 'if you do'
in a modern poem where
the poet still believes
in love and strives for
it with the stink and
stench of corporate
america around him
all day -
he/i
wonder
if the
smell is
worse even
than coming
home smelling
like pizza or
burgers but
mostly pizza -

rambling describes the
moment to moment memory
of the last four years at
a job with a man who had
seen it all during his 42
years was let go to wander
away if he didn't want to
take a paycut and lose the
perks that had taken him years
and years of dedication to earn.

oh how i was torn and i yearned to
be out of doors with the grounds keepers
at the country club as they talked about
expensive memberships at country clubs
all around i swayed in my seat and
started up about the war once or
twice, but let my mind wander and

the moment is censored as company
lawyers pore over the text poured
onto the page layer by layer the
words add up like numbers only
sometimes they rhyme and/or
line up better on the page

balance -
teetering
on the edge
-

what has become of the world?
i mean no, really - what have
we done with it when money and
the bottom line is worth more
than 42 years of another human's
life? not to mention the strife
and still the warlike stances -
mean angry glances over tables
for leaders who will never experience
the war other than on television
like so many others - maybe seeing
more than the average viewer...

if hemingway were alive today would
he be writing for USA today on the
frontlines of one country or another?

a cacophony of noise from the bell
tolling over and over for so many
others - commercial break - buy a
toyota - buy a burger - buy a bi-
cycle. cyclic thoughts thought
about - revolving around the
other bit of course off
course - distraught &
naughty caught with
a scarf in a purse
or bag or boffin

poetic license to
invent or reinvent
a word or two to
adequately express
the distress upon
the world and when
it hits close to
home and i as a
poet can see it
upclose and first-
hand - well, what
then? best to skip
out now and faithfully
transcribe it down -
half poet half journo
half hacker word hacker
poet halfback,
standback.

ok, just relax, slip into it - the novel fits like a glove
because you've fashioned it before /
/ already
/ the moment
/ is upstaged
/ by another... /
/
what happens then, when /
you try to slip the
poet a bone and he
doesn't rollover
and bury it in \/
his backyard? /\

transcribe.
moments.
relate.
relay.
real.
ram.
ro
d

silpshod approval.
the novel progresses
into many satisfactory
digressions evoking many
satisfying sensations.