The Poetry Of..
Joseph Lisowski.....................................................
LOOKIN' BACK AT SODOM
"Don't ask," Kazu says,
"I got sins you don't wanna
know about. You too,
but they ain't visitin' you
yet. Believe me!" He grabs me
by the shirt. His hand shakin',
sendin' out thousands of volts,
sparks flyin' everywhere.
His eyes is like fireworks,
the grand finale. He's bustin'
brain cells, corpusles,
fracturin' synapses, I
just know it. All I'm hearin'
is booms. His gums is workin',
spittle flyin'. "What! What!
What the hell you sayin'!
I think I ask.
He lets go an' I almost collapse.
He turns, blows his nose, an'
limps down 45th street
to the abandoned, crucible steel mill.
I'm woozy,
hug the telly pole for balance.
My eyes ain't right.
I see him divide, divide again.
Twenty Kazus goin' ina busted door.
Forty Kazus climbin' the rusted crane.
SUMMER SERENADE
My baby girl is sunlight.
I'm seein' her now. Wow,
what is it? Thirty years ago?
She's crawlin' ona polished hardwood floor,
dust swirlin' blue, green, an' red
in streaks from the window,
touchin' her wide smile.
She's sendin' out these rays
so's the wood gleams,
the mirror sparkles,
the trees outside wave,
the grass serenades,
dinner smells delicious,
an' even I look good.
In her eyes.
SURE, I WANNA BE A POLITICIAN
What lie you wanna hear?
I got a million,
won 'em ona spin of the wheel.
Nine pounds, two ounces, the doctor says.
That's me, chocked full of lies.
It's just the way I come into the world.
An' talk about brain size?
I got enough room
for a million more.
Who can say I ain't a happy man?
Now some people pay top dollar.
Others don't give a damn.
From where I'm standin',
it's all part of God's plan.
He gives us a brain
an' we try our luck.
Whoever tells the most,
gets the biggest bucks.
* 'Stashu' is an amalgam of voices from the Lawrenceville neighborhood in Pittsburgh where Joseph grew up in the midst of up-unemployed steel workers, disenfranchised immigrants, often chronic drunks,- who, in spite of it all, had not totally given up hope. These poems are from Joseph Lisowski's unpublished full-length collection, "STASHU KAPINSKI DREAMS OF GLORY".
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