the old poets don't read
their poems anymore
preferring to stay home
and scanning the pages
of literary journals
looking for their names in print
the old poets borrow lines
from other poets
but only when suffering writer's block
the old poets no longer have mother
russia to comfort them
no parties to join
no red guard to march with
the old poets drink bottled water
and avoid salt with meals
take pride in the little known fact
that an average spill of semen contains
less than 25 calories
the old poets have turned in
their bombs and union cards
for small change and social security
the old poets won't let you forget them
appearing in zines with regularity
their bowels can only dream of
the old poets have traded in
their party cards for grants and favors
the old poets have quit writing
political poems
for a ride on the poetry circuit pony
selling themselves for a lottery chance
at the small press hall of fame
You were Harpo Marx
Without a harp
You were Sally Rand
Without her burlesque fan
You were a slow moving funeral train
Making its way down the track
Looking for the last hunchback
You were Clint Eastwood
Looking for someone to make your day
But baby I can't do the last dance
Not to even get into your pants
I don't want a ride in your rowboat
To the Bermuda Triangle
Or to sit in the back seat
Of your leaky canoe
Listening to you play old
love songs on your kazoo
And why do you want
To check out of the hotel
When we haven't yet checked in?
You have the desk clerk confused
And I'm beginning to lose
All interest in the muse
Not since I ran the mile in high school
Have I been this out of breath
The range-master has issued
Me a summons
To report to the firing range
He wants to remove the bulls-eye
From my heart
You'll have to find someone else
For target practice
A. D. Winans is an internationally published San Franciscan writer whose work has appeared in countless literary journals. He is the author of The Holy Grail: Charles Bukowski And The Second Coming Revolution and forty other chapbooks and books of poetry and prose. A book of his selected poems, The Other Side of Broadway, has recently been published by Presa Press.