HELLO UKRAINE

You got plenty of trouble,
I know;
and I got plenty myself.
I'm not comparing here,
I'm just sayin.

I see where
you're reading my early stuff
& I can understand that--
it was raw, alive,
nerves on fire.
I'm happy to say
they still are (on fire)
& I still am (raw & alive),
but have taken on
much shit as I've gone on.

Better to burn,
I think,
while you can,
and leave a stain
in your wake,
then to wake up
without needing
to.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2014