STRONG TENDENCY

A strong tendency to want
to have the pleasant, agreeable,
comfortable, secure feelings be all pervasive

And always going for that

And feeling if there is pain in any form
disagreeable, uncomfortable, insecure

to run away from that

to avoid that

Learning to be present
A dog licks a sidewalk

Herbert smells like pee
Give him food on Styrofoam

People gather outside The New York Times

I was an alcoholic, sure, he said
If not I would’ve killed myself
Booze saved my life

A professional alcoholic, Patrick said
He laughed
But there wasn’t anything funny
He fell flat, lay like that

A strong tendency to hiccup
Riding in an ambulance
The Bellevue ER
The placement sound IRT
Quality of Life
Broke wisdom desideratum

All pervasive about stamps
Do they know the number?
His middle name?
Going for pizza
A big slice
But $2.50 is a lot, she said


She only drank Jamba Juice
Failing superior
She hailed a taxicab
Got elected

A present dog sniffs
Feeling pain like French fries and a shake
The way a beer sits in the stomach
Disagreeable as the 72nd Street station

Leaving smells like people outside
Like evidence
Before tv

They didn’t call it NYPD, he insisted
He was wrong
Harvey as bad as his father
He was wrong
He insisted

Locked him up
So he wouldn’t freeze
Police just like people
The good ones just like people
The bad could be something you don’t see.