at the Lincoln Center subway stationwhen out of nowhere appeared a tallchubby-faced Hasidic Jew with peyotand a black hat a black coat white shirtwith prayer-shawl fringes showingwe walked together out of the stationand when we got outside and shook handsI noticed he was blind. Goodbye,I said, as giddy as a man wakingfrom an anesthetic in…
when John Ashbery, Marc Cohen, and Eugene Richiegave a poetry reading and I introduced themto an audience that already knew them,and there were bottles of Evian at the table.As air to the lungs of a drowning man wasa glass of this water to my dry lips. I recommend itto you, a lover of palindromes, who…
original thought in my lifeincluding this one & therefore I shalleliminate all ideas from my poemswhich shall consist of cats, rice, rainbaseball cards, fire escapes, hanging plantsred brick houses where I shall give up boozeand organized religion even if it meansdespair is a logical possibility that can’tbe disproved I shall concentrate on the fivesenses and…
700 francs will get you $109.91on this muggy May afternoonwhich is good to know sinceI just found 700 francs in my walletwhile Dinah Washington was singing‘My Old Flame’ I was thinking of whereI was with Glen when Allen Ginsberg diedand if I could relax for one hourif I knew what that felt likeit would seem…
on the coverof TimeI thought he wasemploying a metaphoras in ‘Braves Scalp Giants!’on the back pageof the Daily NewsI pictured the Russiansburying us under a moundof all the rubblethat rubles could buywhen what he meant washe had come not to praise Caesarbut to bury him
saying you’re on your way outbut she wants to tell youthe five things she requiresin a man one is intelligencehe must have a brainalso he must be good a termshe likes because it embraces boththe opposite of evil and ‘good inbed’ and you admire the wayshe skillfully maneuvered theconversation to the sex livesof jazz fans…
in poetry we have plenty of bassand not enough treble, more amberbeer than the frat boys can drink butless red wine than meets the lipin this beaker of the best Bordeaux,too much thesis, too little antithesisand way too much New York Timesin poetry we’ve had too much isolationismand too few foreign entanglementswe need more Baudelaire…
honeymooners traditionally went to the Fallswhich were, said the divine Oscar,an American bride’s second biggest disappointmenttell me which do you like better,the American Falls or the Horseshoe Falls,I say the Horseshoe Falls, Joe says,because its magnificence surpasses the American Fallsthank you, Joe, and did you knowwhen Casey Stengel managed the Yankeeshe sat next to Bob…
the eleventh of June comes around and I knowwhat I want: a wide-brimmed Panama hatwith a tan hatband, a walk in the parkand to share a shower with a zaftig beautywho lost her Bronx accent in Bronxvilleand now wants me to give her back her virginityso she slinks into my office and sits on the…
I vote with the common man.I have two kids, a boy and a girl.Last Sunday I played golf with the boss.Hey, it beats working.I’m his wife. I may be brainless butI’m her husband. I played golf with herLast Sunday I played golf with the bossand it was the first warm morning in Mayand like every…
