#1
sometimes I wonder
why I drink white wine
instead of white lightningwhy I survey the brooklyn bridge
from my window
and not the south fortywhy I ride the subway to work
Instead of a tractorwhy cockroaches pester my life
and never boll weevilssometimes I feel like my name
should be ebeneezerlike i should have corns
on my feet
and a fiddle on my shoulderlike I should sniff snuff
spit day’s work
drool into a well-chewed corn-cob pipe
sit splay-legged in my rockin’ chair
watchin’ grass widdas go by
from my high front porch
then I could go into town
next sattiday night
and dance the ladiesbut I’m already here