playing with fire
(for Caroline Gauger)
John Dorsey
we're sitting in a diner
when tim tells me to never sell out
meet an older woman
move to europe
you knew ginsberg
he's afraid i'll find a job
a house
a pattern behind some long picket fence
which all sounds pretty good
he wasn't there when i rolled quarters for condoms
in some little room in south philly
so as not to hear the pitter patter of tiny feet
he wasn't there when nobody told me i was beautiful
and that room closed in
old and silly like the bloom of some acient tulip
and i'd like to tell him that nobody knows anyone anymore
except ghosts ringing bells on posts
who know my voice
and hear it still
but i can't because there's another girl
who's neck i'd like to kiss
younger than the last
who doesn't live in the spirit world.
