Sunday, July 13, 2014

ONCE A POET by Verne Strickland, November 11, 1976

ONCE A POET By Verne Strickland










November 11, 1976 Crown Center

good god it’s dark in Baltimore
and cold in Kansas City
and I’m headed for the bright lights
in a first class jet airplane
I have come across the country
in my prominence and glory
and the people who are waiting

hope I’ll let them buy me whiskey
I am living in the high time

but inside I’m sick and heavy
for my boys and my sweet woman
are at home cut loose and drifting.
that’s a winter sun that’s sinking
and it’s colder than my insides
and my mind is pale and sighing
maybe dying
but my life and times are fat
and stuffed with fortune fame and favor
and my vest is smart and fitted
and admired by poor Chinese
it is mine the gem you yearn for
I have bought it with my greed
and it’s all the hell and loneliness
you’ll need.

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