Quick’s Sister, Perfect Raj, Vive Le Torch,

Miss Leuschner, Keepin’ Peace, True To Be,

Lou’s Good Morning.

now, it’s good for us: the lightning flash

of hope, the laughter of the hidden gods.

we were never meant to be what we are or where

we are, we are looking for an escape, some music

from the sun, the girl we never found.

we are betting on the miracle again

there before the purple mountains

as the horses parade past

so much more beautiful than

our lives.

in the center of the action

you have to lay down like an animal

until it

charges, you

have to lay down

in the center of the action

lay down and wait until it charges then you

must get

up

face it get

it before it gets

you

the whole process is more

shy than

vulnerable so

lay down and wait sometimes it’s

ten minutes sometimes it’s years sometimes it

never arrives but you can’t rush it push

it

there’s no way to cheat or get a

jump on it you have to

lay down

lay down and wait like

an animal.

the fool

I sat in that cheap hotel room

waiting.

I sat drinking wine and

waiting.

I turned out the lights and

drank in the

dark.

the phone rang.

it was her.

“I’ll be along in a little

while, Hank.”

“when?”

“just a little while, wait

for me, don’t

worry.”

she hung up.

she was one of my first

women.

ten years older than

I.

the hotel was on 6th

street.

I sat in the dark

drinking the

wine.

soon the bottle was

empty.

I went out,

took the elevator down,

to get

another.

when I got back

I asked the desk clerk

if there had been any

messages.

he looked at me as if

I were crazy.

I took the elevator back

up.

I was about halfway

through the second

bottle when the phone

rang.

“Hank, it’s me, I’ll be

there real

soon.”

she hung

up.

I sat in the dark and

finished the

bottle.

then I got out of

there and took the

elevator

down.

I walked half a

block

took a left

walked down to the

bar.

through the blinds

I could see her

sitting at the

bar.

she was smoking

drinking

talking to some

old guy in a

wrinkled grey

suit.

I walked down

to my car,

got in

and drove out

of there.

saw her somewhere a

couple of weeks

later and

she said,

“geez, Hank, what

happened?

I went up to that

room and there was

nobody

there!”

“no kidding?” I said,

“you mean you went there

and there was nobody

there?”

she knew it was

over.

she opened her purse

and looked down

into it,

fumbling

around.

looking for cigarettes,

a lighter

or her next

move.

the rock

I will not name this poet although his blood-red and dark