4873. TO TAKE SUCH SEDUCTION

TO TAKE SUCH SEDUCTION

To take such seduction sideways I am riding you like

the hills of Troy, thinking of nothing so much as the

hour and the effort and joy. So many moments

matter only when reflected in the oval of time.

We live through the memory of the idle.

-

Down here, among the streets of the now, at

Barrow and Bedford where once Chumley's stood,

I am propping myself up against a building that

leans. I am cold, and probably a little drunk. Across 

from my eyes, I see the doorway where once lived

Delmore Schwartz; up those stairs, past the lobby

light. He most often felt worse than I do now.

-

To take such seduction from whence it comes, I

would first need disrobe you and revel in the sight

of all I see  -  thinking fast, yes, but moving slow.

-

This damned cigar's light throws nothing back  -  

just the hum of this disheveled drunk next to me,

ruing his life and cursing a wife, showeringing my shoes 

and spitting back something vile. Thank the lord it only

flows downward; but my shoes aren't worth anything

anyway much. He has soaked them now, to the touch,

and I live through the memory of the idle.