A New Hallmark Holiday Proposed

Tonight while watching
A sappy TV movie
I had a great idea
For a new Hallmark holiday

It would be
Called Homeless Day
And Richard Musto
Would be the official
Holiday spokesman
In all his cranky wonder

Now listen to me
One thing you have
To learn pretty fast
About living
On the street is
Never eat food with
Mayonnaise if you want
To avoid getting really
Sick

Because what holds us
Together is nothing
More or less than
What Mitch Albom describes
Only what it holds
Together I’d hazard to guess
Is not exactly
Co-extensive with
Either his experience
Or imagination

Gan Yu - II

A poem about the importance
of a strong sense of place

You know the role
Played by Richard Dreyfuss
In Close Encounters
His complete obsession
With Devil’s Tower

Well how come
I’m not quite sure
But that’s exactly the way it's
Always been for me
In and around
These few square blocks

It’s the place
Where I most belong
And how can I explain it best
Except by saying it’s been such a long time
Personal and business address as to
Become one and the same
A single location that pervades
My entire sense of well-being

Or like water
That’s circling the drain
I’m intent to continue holding on
Just a little bit longer
Thinking perhaps the path of
Least resistance is remain right here
And try to make myself
An even more integral part of the
Midtown South Precinct scene

Gan Yu -- II

Alone or Together

Alone or together
Is one of those imperishable
Questions
A toggle hard wired
In our hearts and minds

Just so I found myself
On the corner outside
Where I first noticed her
Beautiful and self-possessed
Regal throughout her being
And online at Pret
Again she was
Behind me
Long auburn hair
America’s next though
Slightly aging supermodel

As I paid for my mid-afternoon snack
Keisha asked:
Alone or together?

Well
I do my best to keep
Things together
But I’m all alone when
It comes to her
If that’s what you mean

And then I glanced briefly back
And when she smiled
I said to her
For the first and last time:
And you’re well put together too
If you don’t mind my saying

To which Keisha crisply replied:
Well
Why don’t you pop her the question?


To which I quipped in return:
Is all I get three dollars change?

But the best of it yet
Is that after stepping back
And later still
As I remembered the scene
No matter what I said or meant
Keisha came to her own understanding
Such that I ended up paying
As though we were together
Whether or not we were
In fact or in mind

So what exactly
By this question is meant
Alone or together
In this or any other context
Each of us for ourselves
Each and every time
Must redecide

Gan Yu -- II

(a poem about the benefits of embracing change)

Once again

As I get ready

To quit my day job

In truth I recall how always

I have found it much easier

To keep faith

By embracing change

Instead of getting

Bogged down in

The status quo




All the Dao asks for is balance

And no matter what you give back

Many are the ways

Chemical physical and emotional

To pry your third eye open

As you find your own way

Through life

A Poem About the Gan Yu

Does it mean

Feelings about things

Met along life’s way

Or better yet just

Things encountered

Such is the nature

Of life in translation

And such are the transformations

As we move from tongue

To tongue

Sometimes the choices

Seem very enormous

Almost overwhelming

Still

At the end of the day

The Gan Yu shall

Speak for itself

If you’ll just kindly do your best

To keep me and Chen Zi’ang

Both far from mind

Instead try striking out

On your own

First by crouching down

In the depths of the forest

And then calmly wait

Listening for the cuckoo’s

Loud lament

My Thoughts After Reading a Letter from Richard Musto

What am I

To Richard Musto

Or he to me

Both questions are

Unfathomable

And there's nothing

More laughable

Than my answer

It sometimes seems

It’s not just money

That brings us together

Though a little more

Of the green stuff

Deposited directly into

His account from time to time

Would go a long way towards

Buying me peace of mind

Meanwhile he is looking

To engage me professionally

In order to pursue legal remedies

Against half the known world

His sister’s son and a desk sergeant

In the South Bronx both of whom have

Done him grievous wrongs

A whole lifetime of

Disparagements still

Awaiting redress

And in all caps and bold face scrawl

Again and again

He reminds me to

SEND MORE CASH

BY WIRE DIRECTLY

It’s pretty clear what

He expects of me

But what do you suppose

I am destined to learn

From him in good turn

A Common Misunderstanding About What Dietrich Really Said

A lot of guys
Stop to ask me
What’s the secret of life?
And I’ll say to them
How the hell should I know
Except it’s what you see
All around you like
People sitting on the bus
Pile their bags so high
On the seat next to them
Because they don’t want anyone
Sitting right alongside
You see everybody is afraid
Of someone or something
Getting too close

And it’s the same with the rich
You know flying around
In their private jets
It’s the same damn thing
And it’s very dangerous too
All those movie stars
Politicians and musicians
Who lost their lives
In their private planes

Rugged individualism
Is what they used to call it
Back in the day
But that’s just words
They used to use
To try and give it
A positive spin
Something to say for
A good cub-scout leader
Maybe an infantry captain
Or anybody who knows
How to get by
No matter what
To live off the land
Just like me
Yeah I guess you could
Say that about me

Anyway
It’s like everyone
Made the same mistake
About what Marlene Dietrich said
She never said
She wanted to be alone
No siree
You see
That wasn't what she
Said at all
She said she wanted to be left alone
And you can take it from me
That’s a completely different thing
If you get what I mean

What Richard Told Me

You know why
There has to be a God
Richard says to me
Sitting in the back
Of Ali’s Deli
On 29th and Sixth

Look at the trillions
Of fish in the sea
And all the rice they grow
Underwater in the paddies
You take all that rice and fish
That comes from underwater
And you have enough for
A very healthy diet
Right there

And don’t forget
You still have
To call back
That Landlord
Down in Atlantic City
And if he asks you
How long I’m gonna stay
You should say
Just as long as he’s welcome
Just to show him that
I can be a very accommodating person
That is accommodating to
His disposition
And you have no idea
Frankly how temperamental
A Landlord’s disposition
Sometimes can be

For Dan

Let each poem
Be a celebration
Of life be it a moment
Of truth or continued
Uncertainty

As with the Saturday
Arrival of a package
From Putney
What the fuck?
My younger son exclaimed

And after opening it up
Holy Shit he further said
It’s a letter from Natalie
That says my application
Is complete and look here
It’s a plastic cow she sent me

Am I in or not?
Stop sending me
Rubber cows please
No more kitsch
I want the rest of my life
To begin already

This is a poem I composed at the James A. Farley Post Office on November 3rd where I went to send out one last package.


Let each day bring its own
good measure of life changing
circumstances
into existence


Each day may
the Kabbalah Truck
remain parked outside


With carts filled
with trays filled
with fresh baked
loaves of wisdom


Just waiting to greet you
on your way out
the front door