The Whereabouts of Heaven
I was building a skyscraper when I
ran out of sky and cozied up to
the whereabouts of heaven above
our false hosannas Way up in the clouds
where no one speaks but sings beautifully
above the movement of money gunfights
and late stage cancer grade school body counts
and shots per round Up there in the blue beyond wonder
where tomorrow threatens no one where angels woo the glade
My Love Don’t Dream, She Vignettes
My love don’t dream she vignettes
of three cats in a universe of mad deco design
Where chimps repose in rose boxes
and people from the past parlay
w/punks like me in priestly attire
Towne crier Towne crier w/mambo stick
unlocks the clock that blocks all whim
Setting free upon a sea of no truer
than true absurdity of candy cane and ravage
Take That You Savage Swivel Eye
My love don’t dream she vignettes
dense thickets
Any idiot can face a crisis. It’s day to day living that wears you out
– Chekhov
you fuck up My God who doesn’t
swear by Murphy’s Law Born in the chanties
of County Kirby and the Peregrine Sea
just south of Ma Larkey’s where stout
flows free and girls dance real close
for five shillings So O’Malley warns
the service advisor who takes it to Maury
the top-floor guy A convoluted route
I grant you but it keeps the cops away
from O’Mara’s where wisdom rhymes
and the song well the song is the song
of everyman who has compromised
his holy verse and the cover-up
begins dense thickets dark shadows
Yea the mind goes to strange places
when you’re not paying attention to the
matter at hand
Mediums Mystics and Madmen
Mediums Mystics and Madmen all decked out
in a wild dance around the pyre at the Cafe Adversity
Flim Flam Fraud and Failure have run out on their tab
and Barney the old bailiff will have another beer
Hey! It’s the Lord of Mentor Street sitting with the Seer
As another virgin liberal In clashing suit and tie cries
Silence Is Not Poetry! It’s the gag rule of the oppressed!
A tyranny of mind a kleptocracy of poets
Cross-dressed presidents crawl onto the stage
Applause resounds rebounds reverbs w/fife and drum as
liars lie to liars and the truth on ashes borne
Rocked mocked skittled scorned see the King
has tumbled and if he asks you tell him this
It’s all a succession of steps ‘n stumbles
steps ‘n stumbles Mediums Mystics Madmen
know the score Don’t give the parson half a chance
when he’s idling out the door
salt water taffy
w/Will Nixon
roll up tour tents
dust off your boots
freaks, never scrutinize
stick out your tongue
extinguish the pool
the, sacristy’s on fire
take off your pants
finger your chin
the, FBI is looking
she swore she saw
Murray the K
take off, w/her boyfriend’s wallet
trim the frost
from your beard
the Bronx will always, glimmer
watch Van Gogh
in the batters’ cage
sing Spanish to a squirrel
2025 Ulster County Poet Laureate. Published globally with little reportable income. Full-length collections include Buckshot Reckoning, mooncussers, AmericanMental, (Luchador Press 2023, 2022, 2020); haiku collections Monet’s Bamboo (CAPS Press, 2025) Blue Fan Whirring, (Nirala Press, 2018). President, Calling All Poets, celebrating 26 years in the Hudson Valley. Co-chair, Music Fan Film Series, Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale, NY. Online CD reviews at. All About Jazz and lightwoodpress.com The Rock n Roll Curmudgeon appeared in Rhythm and News Magazine, (1996-2003). Chronogram, (2003-2007). Van Wyck Gazzette, (2013-2022) Elmore Magazine, (2013-2017). Hosts NuJazzXcursions, Monday 9-10am, WVKR-91.3FM Vassar College. He loves Emily most of all.
