I FEEL JUST GOOD ENOUGH

For my girl Puma Perl

to feel guilty.
Don't ask me why
that is--
it just is.
And so
I don't want to do anything
until this perplexing mood
goes away,
sucked-up
by my natural stream
of venom
& recriminations;
until the vileness
of pleasantries
are denied
an easy passport
into the bloodstream
of pernicious doubt--
where all good poems live;
until I feel
normal again.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2019