wullahwahzout

i want to do some good things with my life
like go for a drive somewhere or get a phone call
from someone i walked in a straight line in the parking lot
i followed the white line someone must’ve painted millions
of seconds ago tonight i’m noticing things i wouldn’t
normally notice and it might be because of that cheese-
burger like that woman up there mopping the floor
of the ballet studio above the grocery store you can’t see
her anymore she moved out of the frame

I Never Go Anywhere Anymore

I was a chancellor until recently
I don’t know what that means
I got lost in the strands
of Dr. Levine’s forearm hair
good doctor mhm
very good doctor

When you smack your lips
it brings me back to when
I lived in New York City
not far from the Hollywood sign
and if you want to know the truth
I used to work the desk
at the local library

I liked reading big old fat poets
the kind who wear loose-fitting pants
and walk slowly down auditorium stages
and who ruffle sheets of paper next to the microphone
and who tell me how to write poems




Joseph Grantham is the author of Raking Leaves and Tom Sawyer. He lives in America.