you know, she said
i was not going to drink
in January I did though.
That one day, I drank a lot.
It*s true, it is something
that has been true for ages
All we can say is that there
are mountains somewhere off
to the west, we will continue
to drink
and someday we will touch
those rocks.
____
The importance of being
well
cannot be overemphasized
I diminish it
with my fingers
every stroke
of the cat i feel better
it*s amazing the way
things take a turn
and the people
are suddenly kind
i know your name
i named you
do you know mine?
_______
something
was told
it was
winter
_______
Even if you know you cannot
resist that particular tempationn
try.
My dear nothi ng could be more
crucial in this life than
to resist what there is to
be resisted.
try yourself, try so so hard
there is 'nt much more to it than
that. there just isn*t.
_____
So it*s simple it*s not about
changing everything or yourself
really, it is just about seeing
things in a slightly different
light.
There is a quality of light
in winter, something soft to the
sound of traffic
of doors opening and closing
and footsteps, and maybe
if we are really truly blessed,
to the way this life feels
and maybe if we just push this particullar
spirit less often towrd ourcenter,
we will feel the difference
and when , finally we feel that difference
maybe then we will be.
______
in the MOMA there is
a film of a dog running. it
becomes a bright wall of sound.
alan says he hates modern art.
we're drinking coffee. hate isn't
the word i'd use to describe a blue
square or the end of a long
wall of light * the dog, the grass
and people along the corridor,
(corridor). alan says he
likes the dog. but nothing else.
he likes the dog because
nobody thought of him first.
______
physically and emotionally
burly
That*s not me
Strength is not the
answer when the question
is, where is the end of the
world and what can you
find
there
always water
always power
_______
backwards and upsidedown
i will dance , light_filled drinking orange juice
in the mission.
there will be nights
of guitars and bourbon.
every weekend, a holiday.
i want laughter
and heartache. i want to be
twenty-three and still relish
in the whiteness of morning.
i want to wrap myself in
the oak panels of a bar
and sing all my electric
words until they are sizzling
veins. i*ll be your darling
on the hilltop. let me
tumble upside down and backwards
into
this
_____
hello my name
is
In my first
poetry class
with
david ignatow
he told me
to write
a poem
about
my parents
saying
if
you can be
honest
about
your
parents
you
can
be
honest about
anything>
this was because
i had no
real poems of my own
only imitations
that i wrote from
kenneth koch*s class
so i wrote
and
read
and the other
poetry writers
listened
and we talked
and Mr. Ignatow
was moved
to give
the assignment to
the entire class
the end
by Frank Ballabio
xoxoxo
______
Everyone wants to be better
no one wants to be good
you sit before a piece
of text you sit before
a set of drums you sit
like a buuddha so
goddamn happy you could
sing or starve
sing or starve
_____
Who needs resolutions when
there is the future to
live, bicoastal
i made goals Id
told him I*d be bicoastal
one day I aspire
to not be in debt
he told me he was the vp
of some startup his name was blue
what a name love
is a circle
two venn diagrams
going back and forth
_____
Periods of
control
That*s the point
caffeine alcohol
That*s the point
_____
... always knew it was going
to go that way,
Beyonc* kept coming up and you
somehow in the sky behind
the clouds decided that maybe
the best thing for us to do
would be to grow feathers,
to wake up tomorrow as birds
so we could fly all the way
up there. so high that we
could see everything clearly.