and the subnormal.
all through grammar school
junior high
high school
junior college
the unwanted would attach
themselves to
me.
guys with one arm
guys with twitches
guys with speech defects
guys with white film
over one eye,
cowards
misanthropes
killers
peep-freaks
and thieves.
and all through the
factories and on the
bum
I always drew the
unwanted. they found me
right off and attached
themselves. they
still do.
in this neighborhood now
there’s one who’s
found me.
he pushes around a
shopping cart
filled with trash:
broken canes, shoelaces,
empty potato chip bags,
milk cartons, newspapers, penholders...
“hey, buddy, how ya doin’?”
I stop and we talk a
while.
then I say goodbye
but he still follows
me
past the beer
parlours and the
love parlours...
“keep me informed,
buddy, keep me informed,
I want to know what’s
going on.”
he’s my new one.
I’ve never seen him
talk to anybody
else.
the cart rattles
along a little bit
behind me
then something
falls out.
he stops to pick
it up.
as he does I
walk through the
front door of the
green hotel on the
corner
pass down through
the hall
come out the back
door and
there’s a cat
shitting there in
absolute delight,
he grins at
me.
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