SHE WAS A PROFESSOR

of the springs; a doctorate
between the sheets.
She wrote her thesis
on positions &
the various openings
of pleasure.
I, at the time,
was a quick study
but a quicker shooter.
She gave me
an "incomplete,"
and I never
made up
the work.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2017

WE WAZ ROBBED

Your parents robbed ya;
your teachers robbed ya;
God robbed ya;
you bounced
against walls,
slid down pipes;
tied to hissing radiators;
you ate
empty plates;
your stomach filled
with air; your heart swelled
with dread;
they diddled your privates;
told you about good boys
& good girls & chugged
a fifth
or fucked
a neighbor
or gave you a wafer
& wine breathed hope
of a heaven
so far from your daily hell
it might as well have been
a Saturday cartoon.

And then a warning
not to tell
even yourself
because all you do
is lie anyway.
Now
go out
& play.

I will vote
tomorrow
for any party
I'm not
invited
to
be
in.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2016

FUCK AN APPLE

I'd tell my students,
bring me some pot instead;
they were almost adults
& so better able
to handle
the truth.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2016