5012. USED TO GO

USED TO GO

I used to go to Philadelphia every fourteen days. 

Had a girl there named Gwendolyn  -  she said

she couldn't wait any longer than that. I called her

Gwen; all she ever said was 'when.'

-

The kind of coat I wore back then consisted of

wool-knit and some leather  -  inserts and cut-outs

together; a few snaps and a zipper. Murder to get

into, and more difficult to get out of. But it kept

me warm. Took it from a dumpster one drunk night.

-

The first car I ever owned was from a junkyard, free.

The guy who was hauling it in didn't care; he said, when

I asked, 'sure, yeah, go ahead, take it. It ain't gonna' do

me any good and it's probably a piece of shit.' I didn't

care. Made it go two weeks later and drove it a few years.

-

My shoes, back then, were mostly shoes from guys running

off from the draft, on their ways to Canada. They'd stay a few

nights in our safe-house on 11th street, and then leave when the

ride came, and put all kinds of stuff behind  -  shoes, coats, pants, 

shirts and the rest  -  stuff they claimed they didn't want. 

Every pair that fit, I'd keep. 

-

Same with the girls, but they were different too. It was 1967, and

it seemed everyone  -  besides being very young, me included  - 

was stoned and horny as hell, together. The girls were running

off from their own military as well  -  Wacs or Waves or whatever

they were  -  they hated Vietnam too you know. But before they

left, they always wanted to fuck. Sleep naked, and fuck again.

It was some really crazy shit.

-

Then there were the Digger girls from east 3rd. They were 
nutso  too, yet they were all these rich girls from Connecticut, 
it seemed, spiting their parents, living poor, giving things 
away. They were always naked too  -  damnedest thing. 
The Diggers had a free store they ran, on 10th or 11th, 
I forget  -  anything you wanted, for free. I'd get sent over 
to the place they all lived in, on 3rd, to deliver some

papers or money or something, and they'd answer the
 door, always, bare-ass naked. A whole three rooms
 filled with naked babes. Used to give me 
the shivers just thinking.

-

Now, it's over buddy  -  so far gone the shades are drawn.

My life's a dead-end street with not even a whistle of a

chance for salvation or fun or grief. I take it on the chin

and just remember what has been, and

the way things used to go.