The Conversation

Do I dare
Disturb the universe?

-T.S. Eliot 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'

Did I even check to see if that
bookstore had an anarchy section?
I didn't. I just bought another book
about special post-graduates.

Did I buy something at the Wal-Mart
yesterday? I bought a two-liter
of Coke and some white flip-flops.

Did I punch another cop
last night? Oh. I have
never done that. It was Veronica
or Dave. Somebody who did what
they said until they disappeared.

Then what did I do last night? Um.
After work, I surfed channels with a bottle
of orange juice in my hand. I fell
asleep to a washcloth infomercial.
Woke up slowly, wiped drool
from my disgusting face and took a
long, deliberate swig from the warm bottle.

Do I really manage a hot-dog place in
a medium sized, middle America mall?
I'd work anywhere to pay the looming
rent and rid my life
of roaches and diseases.

How would a doctor diagnose me
now? I am a very tired anarchist. Too
tired to move the planet from its course,
at last.

Did I once consider myself a radical
Atlas figure in one community of
disaffected, scabbed, and angry kids?
(laughter)