Queen of Shadows



Wallingford

“None of this is mine”
—Aaron Shurin,
"Hush," King of Shadows

There’s this lazyboy I know—
Lollygagging in the hammock
Of my mind, stretched out
From “firmament to fin” just
As gone & lost as I was back

Then in the ‘70s when I lived—
On Thackeray in Wallingford
With my lover's kid brother
And his Japanese girlfriend
Way back then when...

Hippie free love patchouli—
Incense hookah madras sitar
Sandalwood laid-back dayz
Nights after my lover left me &
I fell in love with his brother…

Both boyz were a lot alike—
Hopelessly hetero sullen
Vain & into being loved
By both sexes our little les
Enfants Terribles game…

Both of them flowing thru—
Me, Kimi helping me out to
Get him loaded & undo him
All the way to Hump Tulips
And back again so fine…

Funny about Family trees—
Family jewels, Family roots,
Exquisitely reaching down
Deep, those two Norwegian
Boyz with long Yggdrasil legs…

Doug’s in Los Angeles—
Keith’s in Alaska now with
Wife and daughter & his
Son in the Marines over in
Hawaii while tonight…

After a poetry reading—
At Open Books with a fellow
Poet from those Night Sun
Dayz long ago I revisit my
Vanity Fair honeymoon…


Little Exercise
—for Aaron Shurin

“the receding dark”
—Aaron Shurin,
“Spring Nude,” A Door

Think of Thackeray Street—
There in the Wallingford District
Back when Vanity Fair was me
And not a novel…

Think of Elizabeth Bishop—
Living there on Brooklyn Ave
Teaching poetry to college kids
After Theodore Roethke…

Think Blue Moon Tavern—
Thirty-five years ago on my
Way back home along 45th Ave
Trudging up the hill…

Think the UW HUB—
Ginsberg reading poetry
On the lawn out front &
My lover leaving me…

Think of the ratty Ave—
Puss and Boots Bookstore
Selling my books to get
Something to eat…

Think of being Hippy—
Playing Go drinking coffee
Last Exit on Brooklyn
Pretending to be poet…

Think of being one—
Listening to Aaron Shurin
Walking in the rain later
A neighborhood of shadows…

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