Love In Two Parts

"there's hope in poetry, comfort in fiction

like the voice of walt whitman, for example.

i have noticed something

you will have noticed it too

we like truth with lies

black with white

we are the virgin and the whore

you will have noticed this too

so i am led to say purely for example, purely for survival

and speaking of course from my own experience

when i'm drunk it's easy

when i'm sober i try not to love you so hard

will not love you so hard

you will have noticed this too,

for you were on the other side.

in a san francisco loft you couldn't pay for

i could feel your heart beat through the floor boards

i waved my hope around like a cheap flag

whose colors had faded

whose emblem was laughable

what is whiskey in the morning but a clear path to the door

what would uncle walt say to the silent floorboard?

hope?

hope

"