dumb,
Jesus Christ,
some people are so dumb
you can hear them
splashing around

“you know,” she said, “you were at
the bar so you didn’t see
but I danced with this guy.
we danced and we danced
close.

we like to shower afterwards
(I like the water hotter than she)
and her face is always soft and pe
and she’ll wash me first
spread the soap over my balls

here they come
these guys
grey truck
radio playing
they are in a hurry

“Chinaski, you got a following in
Denver...”
“yeah?”
“yeah, I got a magazine and I wan
poems from you...”

I have lain in bed all day
but I have written one poem
and I am up now
looking out the window
and like a novelist might say

these things that we support most
have nothing to do with up,
and we do with them
out of boredom or fear or money
or cracked intelligence;

I reached up into the top of the c
and took out a pair of blue pantie
and showed them to her and
asked “are these yours?”

I see you drinking at a fountain w
blue hands, no, your hands are not
they are small, and the fountain i
where you wrote me that last lette
I answered and never heard from yo

I can’t have it
and you can’t have it
and we won’t
get it
so don’t bet on it