The Men’s Room at Sodoni’s

They’re laughing at your Willie, damn their eyes–
Sinatra, Sammy, Dino in the mirror
hung above the urinal. It’s a clearer
shot than you’d allow the funny guys
who jump you when the swinging john door slams.
You know the inexcusable Goombahs
and Sam are gonna sing to their comares,
that entourage of luminary gams,
and by the time you zip, the restaurant
will share their little joke (or yours) as Dino
flops on Sammy’s back. E’sprit de corps
gets loud in this belittling casino,
noted for the lavatory taunt
of Rat Pack bastards screwed against the door.

San Francisco, California, January 25, 2009

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Emily’s Day at the Mall

Take ‘er up!

Turns out to be the line for Obama bobbleheads

You’re getting warmer! You’re burning up!!!

Baltimore Bobbleheads.

Thomas on Obamatron.

The future.

Sunday Adoration

Hail thee, Wife!, O delicate, birdlike creature,
rare in form, unique in divine resplendence,
long the beaming object of my devotion,
long in the kitchen,

gnawing on a doughy suburban bagel
baked the size and shape of a regulation
softball schmeared with cream cheese and lox, engaging
Goddess of Caldwell.

Seven Winters

These seven winters after (eight years, nine…),
the contrails still appear each night and shine
until the sun rolls over Brooklyn. Pure
stigmata on a gaping aperture.
Perhaps a scar that heals. The curving spine

of palliative crystals is a sign
across the cracking firmament: “Divine
Recalcitrance.” How else could we endure
these seven winters. After

all, it gains us nothing to assign
our stars the form of engines in decline
above a waterway where force majeure
emblazoned the agenda, de rigueur
before the ferry reached the harrow line
these seven winters after.

A Reading From the Chapbook…

…Aquinas Flinched, and more!

Rick Mullin and John Foy will feature at

Carmine Street Metrics Sunday, January 11
4- to 6 pm
The Village Bistro
13 Carmine Street, NYC

Open mic for metrical verse!
Hosted by Wendy Sloan
______
Painting: The Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas in which the Bishops and Cardinals Await their Shot at the Open Mic by Francisco Zurbarán.