Armchair

Sunk deep within the fluffy cushion
of your (armchair)
you curl your long auburn hair
with your little finger,
and speak (mostly to the ashen fireplace)
of wearing fake diamond rings
to (somehow?) discourage
pinches, passes, muggings…
raaaa pes (!!!)
on the street…
It can happen at night they say…
or even… in broad daylight
on the university parking lot
so they say… (!!!)
Indeed, they are strange
those strange men… kinds,
their skin pocked and hairy,
with ocular veins that zigzag
like the red and blue routes
of a roadmap...
And you wonder where they...
One stopped before you,
extended his arm,
palm upward,
and wiggled his four fingers
separately.
His eyes a brief second met yours.
He stared:
down
down
down…
You stepped through the door
of the nearest open shop
then wished they
(those strange men… kinds)
did not wish bodies to...
(!!!)

(And me---No way to sneak a kiss first date.)

(1972)

Federal prosecutor

Your gangly legs strut... impatiently...
impetuously... imperiously...
through the square of pensive chess players
who slide life-size bishops, rooks, and pawns
across the giant concrete playing board…

“Been voyagin' two long years now,” you drawl.

“Got plain sick of bustin' hippies
so I took my money and ran…
Thinkin' 'bout writin' a few books
on economics (things are really screwed up) to impress the Academics.”

(Pause…)

“Yeah, it's real easy to get an easy teachin' job
with my experience... hummm...
that gal's got a fine pair of pants...

“So now I just search 'round the world
Soon I'm goin' to the top
to see the midnight sun. (That's the Arctic)”

“Last month, I climbed the highest peak.
(That's in India.)

“Right now, feel like plungin' down
the deepest mineshaft in Africa.
(Been there too!)...

Unexpectedly, he twists his head,
“Hey! Look out! That guy's moving in for the mate!”

And just as suddenly he's back talking to himself (and not to me) again…

“There’s someone who looks like they can help me…
“Oh Sir! Speak E-E-E-English?

He flashes some sort of yellow paper flyer and queries,
"Can you tell me where this hot nightspot is?”

“Ahhhh…Not a policeman, are you?
OOPS, I guess it's not legal to help me...

“But could you just point out the general direction anyway...
Ahhhhh... just pretend you don't know where I'm goin'...

“What's this asshole guard snickerin' about?

“Weird people here... been here two whole days...
This sure is Sweden, but it’s more like Alice in Wonderland…

"And the chicks don't seem any easier here
than in the good ol' USA...

“Wonder what the night club costs?

“Sweden's just livin' too high off the hog
and I don't think its standard of livin'
is any better than ours...

“This socialism's just got to go.
It’s much better in Franco’s Spain
where the price is right!

(1975)

Mr. Bio Chem Major

yeah you tell (me)
yeah you tell what
you did today inside
the perpetually locked doors
of that top secret chem lab
of which only certain VIP’s
have the keys...

yeah you tell (me)
how you ripped out
the key pages
from class bio text book
and
how you’re on the borderline
of the Grand Institution’s choices
and
how you and your friend
took a week’s worth
of speed
to study for the finals

(whether that’s your sin
or the “System’s”
seemed implicit
in your words)
and…

yeah you tell (me)
how you put a bowl of liquid nitro
bubbly like champagne
before a large white rat
which somehow managed
to “screeeeetch” you said
before its skull cracked in two.

“Everyone just laughed
their heads off”
you snickered hysterically
as if you were still in the lab
at that very moment.

Then... staring... spacey
into the next room (…..vacant…..)
giving me the impression
that you had
finally climaxed
your soliloquy
with a pink-faced smirk,
you nevertheless redounded:
“Well, what the hell else is there to do?!?!?”
(!!!)
Yeah, you tell...
(me)

(1977)