New Mexico


I was fairly drunk when it
Began and I took out my bottle and used it
Along the way. I was reading a week or two after
Kandel and I did not look quite as
Pretty but
I brought it off and we
Ended up at the Webbs, 6, 8, 10 of
Us, and I drank scotch, wine, beer, tequila
And noticed a nice one sitting next to me –
One tooth missing when she smiled,
Lovely, and I put my arm around her
And began loading her with bullshit.
When I awakened at 10 a. m. the next morning
I was in a strange house
In bed with this
Woman. she was asleep but looked
Familiar.
I got up and here was one kid running around in a
Crib and another one running around the floor in
Pajamas. I picked up a letter addressed to one
“Betsy R.”, so I went back and said,
“hey, Betsy, there are kids running around all over
This place.”
“oh Hank, damn it, I’m

sick. I want to sleep, not
Rap.”
“but look, the…”
“make yourself some
Coffee.”
I put the pot on and the little boy ran up in his
Pajamas. I found a shirt and some pants and some
Shoes and
Dressed him.
Then I cleaned a bottle with hot water, filled it
With milk and gave it to the kid in the
Crib. he went for
It.
Then I went in and squeezed her
Hand. “I’ve got to go. are you all
Right?”
“yes, a little sick. but please don’t feel
Bad.”
I called a yellow cab and we went back across
Town.
Is this what happened to
D. Thomas? I thought.
If a man didn’t think too much he could be proud of his little
Conquests –
Except that the women were better than we – asking nothing
As we squirted our poetry
Our bullshit our
Sperm to
Them.
We were sick poets sick
People.
Across town I knocked on the door of my host and
Hostess.
“what happened?” they
Asked.
“nothing. got
Lost.”
They sat a beer in front of me
And I drank it as if I were
Wordly:
A piece-of-ass
Any-night
Anywhere
Type.
“somebody got a
Cigarette?” I asked.
“sure,
sure.”
I lit up and asked,
“heard from Creely
Lately?”
Not giving a damn whether they had or
Not.


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New Mexico