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A. D. Winans |
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POEM FOR BOB KAUFMAN He walked the streets of North Beach An ancient warrior with hollow eye sockets That seared the dazzling lights of the City of Saint Francis His eyes boring into you like a silk worm Carrying decades of heavy sorrow on his back Like a bent over hunchback overcome With the rust of time Flesh stripped to the marrow The mirror of his eyes doing a slow dance Up and down Grant and Green A dark shadow riding clouds of Ancient Rain His life measured in hot jazz and verse A surreal mirage where hip cats wailed In perfect rhythm as he walked an imaginary zoo Looking for tigers to talk too Runaway poems blaring in his ears Like a stuck car horn The Ancient Rain falling falling falling Washing away his wounds. END OF INNOCENCE I lost whatever innocence I had back in 68 Robert Kennedy assassinated Mai Lai a month later The Chicago 7 Storm troopers wielding clubs Like cave men of old Richard Nixon signaling the Beginning of the end Those eyes those wide eyes Digging holes in my heart Napalm fire kissing that child's Innocent body Black smoke stuck to her skin As television pundits played Their spin This war that we could never Win [Index] |
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Thunder Sandwich #26 - Summer/Fall 2005 |
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