Free
Verse
Church
and God and Me
When it’s time to go
God will let me know.
I have only one request—
Give me a warning
Before you take my soul preferably
A week
So I can drink smoke screw
Pollute my body
Gutter my soul.
Fear the wrath
Of the white bearded old man? Not me,
I will say a prayer to protect my soul,
The day before I die. I will ask for forgiveness.
The church says, you will comply.
I hope they’re right.
If not
What the hell, I had a good week.
I went to a poetry reading, and all I got was this lousy poem
Traveling down a long dark road
Through the hills
Many miles
To see a poet who traveled many more miles
Than me
I walked up the stairs to the second floor bar
I ordered a beer
And sat at a table, alone—
I waited
For the reading to start
I ordered another beer
The young poets were drinking, chatting, laughing,
signing up to read after the feature poet finished.
They wore no wrinkles
The men were prettier than the women
I ordered another beer
The people next to me talked poetry and politics
And knew little about both
I ordered another beer
The feature poet was in the back of the room
Alone, reading to himself
A football game was on TV
I would rather talk football than poetry, but I was the only
one watching the game
It was time to leave
I walked down the stairs and to my car
Traveled back down the long dark road
Through hills
Many miles
To my neighborhood bar
Where people wore wrinkles
The women were prettier than the men
And nobody talked poetry
