“ . . . my old cracked shoes weep . . . ” i

“ . . . turning an ankle is a Pavlovian fait accompli” ii

Desolation Peak
Minus perks
In the desert
of suburban house
Over fifty and it’s over
Disposable trash
Corporate ash
Old shoe
Friday at three
Judas
Sealed with a kiss
CEO unreined brat
Shallow cad
Foul-mouthed rat
A kiss and dismissal
Crass no class
An imp
An ape
Coward
Fat cat
Loud crude and dull
You killed the swan
Capricious caprice
Capriccio
Listing lee
Solo mio
False drunk miss
(role model for your girls)
Churls
Sweetness gone
“For men [and women] love the fall of the righteous” iii
Too old so go
The way we live now
Loyalty? (lol)
Taken a vow
Poetry and poverty
Words and dignity
Tomes of integrity
The right to choose
Not to color gray hair Never played your games
Never will

i Kerouac, Jack. Desolation Angels. (New York: Riverhead Books, 1995). p. 6.
ii Ibid., p. 84.
iii Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. (New York: Vintage Classics, 1991). p. 312.

GK Stritch

GK Stritch is a contributor to Beatdom and the author of CBGB Was My High School. The book is available at the St. Mark's Bookshop, New York City, and amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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