AN HOUR OR SO ON THE BOWERY


You are the tallest pope in history,
Pope Giganticus X. The other nine
with your name were just a wee bit shorter.
What's on your mind these days? Are you worried
about the economy? I'm worried about the economy.
I don't believe in God. Does He believe in the economy?
I have so many questions
and leg hairs. Several follicles have become infected and have caused
boils. I'm going to watch a movie later, I'm at
a new coffeeshop. A firetruck arrives with siren and lights
and parks in front of the place. I'm drinking coffee and thinking about
poetry, women, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, and
that's about it. I'm also wondering who,
among everyone I know, would approve
of what I'm thinking, doing, or saying
at any given moment, this current one for example.
Must improve. Must be always improving. Must go
out and celebrate unpleasant subjects like sexual jealousy
in order to kill them for all time. It's
Saturday night. The firetruck turns off its lights and drives away.