SHOVELING SHIT AGAINST THE TIDE

There's something wrong
with me--of that
I have no doubt.
Still,
it's come
as revelation
that's really
rather commonsensical;
something
I'd sooner
not have
admitted.

One day
I woke up
& realized
my shit
stinks
to high heaven.

Now,
I can no longer pretend
why
angels weep
& the gods
turn
away--not
from disgust,
only
preservation.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015