REMINISCENCE & REALIZATION

A finger,
the pinky,
has been lost
in the cooker
once you've tasted
dope.
You'll always
remember
what it looked like,
but you'll never,
never ever never ever
be able
to get it
back.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2019

SHOVELING SHIT AGAINST THE TIDE

There's something wrong
with me--of that
I have no doubt.
Still,
it's come
as revelation
that's really
rather commonsensical;
something
I'd sooner
not have
admitted.

One day
I woke up
& realized
my shit
stinks
to high heaven.

Now,
I can no longer pretend
why
angels weep
& the gods
turn
away--not
from disgust,
only
preservation.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015