Poem for Pre-History
ANSELM BERRIGAN

Mine! Whap! No mine!
No mine! No mine!
Belly triangle
Points nowhere
Let it touch
I wiped out
My brother was moved
We swallowed
Surf together
Spend all day
Cleaning a window
Is that any way
To shatter the limits
Of what we bring
Myself to attend to?
Billy's blue toenails
You hang over
I hungover
Ministers of phoney relaxation
Demonstraters of wack device
Status seekers masquerading
As bridge builders
I was watching you sleep
You looked like you
Were having interesting dreams
No chemo
Just jack the hormones
Quaintly possessed
By emotion, gulping
You have been sentenced
To death, later
Gimme some of that
Genepool
Landscape peppered
With quakes
Turkey in real time
Or
Manhattan in prime time?
Camby gains mental toughness
When wacked by guy
Named PJ
We were in Fairfax
I had a gavel
A motion passed
One audience member
Handed me ten reasons
To choose God
It happened
I was there
& I was fucking terrified
Tho' outwardly calm
As per usual