Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Letters in Poems: Maya Angelou (II)



Letter to an Aspiring Junkie


Let me hip you to the streets,
Jim,
Ain't nothing happening.
Maybe some tomorrows gone up in smoke,
raggedy preachers, telling a joke
to lonely, son-less old ladies' maids.

Nothing happening, 
Nothing shakin', Jim.
A slough of young cats riding that
cold, white horse, 
a grey old monkey on their back, of course,
does rodeo tricks.

No haps, man.
No haps.
A worn-out pimp, with a space-age conk,
setting up some fools for a game of tonk,
or poker or
get'ed dead and alive.

The streets?
Climb into the streets, man, like you climb 
into the east end of a lion. 
Then it's fine.
It's a bug-a-loo and a shing-a-ling.
African dreams on a buck-and-a-wing and a prayer.
That's the streets, man.
Nothing happening.

Mailbox in Venice (Italy)

No comments:

Post a Comment