Theater Curtain Blues and Other Poghems

1. “Smog Test”

You don’t understand

how hard it is to be turned

on by tattoos

and

off by vegetarians

and

live in the san

francisco bay.

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2. “Closed Things”

when I am alive I look

at myself, the people I know

and think

damn, if people like us were in charge

the world would be fucked

but then I remember that the world

is indeed

fucked

and sleep.

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3. "Theater Curtain Blues"

even though you tell me

about problems I have no way to fix

my hands are cold, hmm,

the hell am I supposed to do about that

strike me hard when you see

an out-of-state license plate

even while I am driving,

in fact usually while I am driving

insist it is a lie that I’ve ever seen

someone with darker red hair

you say you are the reddest

of the headest

burn off my film making photographs of

flowers that are bound to be trite

I had hoped that once you learned to focus you would take off

down the street chasing interesting-looking strangers

won’t sing along with me when we meet my old friend, tell him

we are seeing prints at Fort Mason Center and he thinks we mean Prince

Raspberry

beret

somehow you put everything in order in this city

where if you want brutal revenge on anyone, to see them suffer until

you have to turn away

you need only face them and stand

very still.