ONE FOR PUMA PERL

I will try
to turn
a few more
lights on
& not sit
& stew
in so much
darkness.
It gets
so comfortable
in the asshole
of self
that you can't smell
your own shit--
& even if you do
you kinda like it
until an old friend
you respect
tugs on your jacket:
hey, it stinks
in here;
light a match
willya?

Onward.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2016

THE FLIP-SIDE

of pleasure/pain
is what interests
me. The hum
of the everyday
puts me to sleep.
I've learned
nothing
from peaceful
or good
things. I've enjoyed
them
at times
but shake-off
the common
for the chaotic
and ugly
every time.

Early last week
was a nightmare.
I was brutalized
by merely living
in this world.
Then came friends
from above
the border
& Carmen
at The Met;
Coney Island
& Totonno's;
sales leading
to safety
for another
month.

All through
this Janus faced
life, I've been
cooking
with words...a hundred fucking pages,
and counting.
Enough
to send
out
to Cynthia
which
I did.
Today she called.
A Saturday.
Terrific,
she said,
I'll rep it
when you finish,
so finish.

I thought I'd stop
smoking
but I won't. Why fuck
with the gods
now?

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2014