MY ARTHRITIC FINGERS,

caked with age,
will try
to unwrap your gift.
Be patient
with me.
It's not
infirmity,
but only
a savoring
of the moment
so long
in coming;
I do
so love
attention.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2017

A DESPERATE RESPONSE TO A DESPERATE POST

There is
a place
where only
you may go
for comfort
& madness.
You need
& desire
no others;
you crave
only
your own
need
& your hands
& your fingers
that are
educated
by that
need.
But do not
go there
now. Wait.
Wait
until
you begin
to
moisten.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2017

JIMI HENDRIX'S HANDS

came to me
in a dream
last night.
They were
long & black
and feathery.
They played
with the grace
of eels
fingering
my strings;
my dreams
moaned
like Bessie Smith.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015