I AM OF TWO MINDS...

often times more.
My laser sharp focus
& perception
gives way
to the jangly route
of interpretations
& judgements.
My translators
are certain
of their acumen;
each are convinced
of their skills
in decoding
history's symbols
& signposts.
My mushy brain
becomes a Wellsian mirrored
ping-pong table
played by masters
of irrefutable logic
& evidence.

Senses impress,
the rest impresses
upon me.
She loves me...
but why
does she love me?
You can see
how flummoxed
I can get
at such obviousness.

I'm in the market
for a tourniquet
for executive functions
of all kinds.
I've heard that Amazon
will deliver it
to my door.
But how to pay for it
is still an open question.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2019

NOW YOU KNOW

how it feels
to want
something
to be there
& it's not.
Blink your eyes.
No, uh, uh.
Blink again.
No, sorry.
Once again.
Nothing
except
the validation
of your
emptiness.
A vacuum
that sucks
any worth
you've mustered
back into
your stomach.
Tomorrow
will be better,
you tell yourself,
& it might.
I can only speak
for myself and
it's not.
The book
is done.
It hasn't
helped.
The words written
only look dead;
the life
in them
goes on.

Oh, yeah--
Happy Birthday.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015