MAY DAY, MAY DAY

I'm going down
with the ship--
I ain't got no choice.
It's the only ship
I got, and the fuckin Captain
is a fuckin moron
& the fucking crew
is just as fucking nuts
as he is or
is as fucked as I am.

Please, for the love of fucking God,
tell whoever the fuck loves me
I fuckin love them back
and I haven't fuckin forgotten
about the love,
not to mention the fuckin money,
I still owe them.
But whatareyagonnado--
I'm going up
or down
in fucking flames

& I ain't got a lot of fucking time
to write
no fucking love letter.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2020

FIRE SALE

I'm an old
smoldering
heap, stinking
& staining
& straining
to burn
again
but the fire
is all but
extinguished.
My bones
are ash,
my smell
is wet
& thick
with disgust.
I'm stuck
with memories,
& no discount
seduces others
to take them
off my hands.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015

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