OP EN A LL N I G H T

Trying to find sleep
has kept me awake--funny
how these things work...
or don't.
I even tried to stop looking
thinking I'd outfox him; not
a chance.
I watched night after night
the furiously blinking
of colored neon
go off kilter & dance
the dance of St. Vitus.
And other times
I watched myself
and felt gut-punched
like seeing a Hopper painting.

I've believed misery & tragedy
will find you
no matter what you do.
Still, I've barricadded myself
in here for the past month
while that lustful virus
feasted on other hosts
less susceptible than I am.
I've got all the chronic conditions
that the little bugger could hope for.
Once inside, it would make short work of me.

You can learn
about yourself
at any age.
Recently, I'd boast
to all my doctors
& my few friends,
that I'd had a good life:
many scenes, many lovers,
many poems, high highs
& low lows--enough
to expect in this go round.
I was ready.
But now I feel the wisdom
of Auden in his, Musee Des Beaux Arts.
Old men cling passionately to life,
while unexpectedly the young go...
because I don't want to go
anywhere. I have more to read
& more to write. I want
another hot fudge sundae
and the smile of a woman
who sees something
I didn't think was showing.

And so I will watch
the little crack
underneath my door
or my windows
for any sign
of invasion.
I will not go easily;
I'll try to hide
behind the door
sneak up on it,
and knock that motherfucker
out.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2020

A JUNKY EXPLAINING HIS MOTIVATION AND RATIONALE IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC WITH ALL THE INTELLIGENCE HE CAN BRING TO BARE

Fuck the virus.
I gotta cop.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2020

THE TEENSY-TINY TERMINATOR

Smaller than Arnold's
pubic hairs,
& stronger...&
it wants your ass.
It knows nothing
else.

And, unlike Trump,
it's really tough.
It does not
announce itself;
your dick
will not leak;
your pussy
will not drip;
you will not
emit an odor.
Its mug
isn't hung
in post offices.
No, it's more like
an AA meeting:
no "musts,"
no requirements,
no nothings,
just be
available
by breathing.
It does not brag,
it does;
it does not lie,
it's tongueless;
it lets you be
until you be
no more.
It is, unlike Trump,
very patient,
& very smart.

Arnold & Donald,
a governor &
a president,
predicting & deciding
our fate. You couldn't
make this up.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2020

VD

They have fucked
their country silly,
and they've used
no protection,
but it's we
who drip
from syphilis,
gonorrhea,
genital herpes
and all manner
of yeast infections.
Pus is in
our drinking water,
puke is in the air.
Penicillan is useless
against this strain
of virus; only words
as guns or cannons
will staunch the flow
of bullshit.
Vladimir & Donald,
cocksmen for our age,
living in our bloodstream
for far too long,
has rendered us blind
and truly
insane.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2018