When I travel
I like to be alone in the big city.
He got the hat cheap.
***
Buddy calls,
Oh, joy,
he can spend the day with me.
I could be talked into an hour’s walk
mid-afternoon,
drinks, visit Powells book store,
more drinks, dinner.
Early nightcap.
Or if earlier is better,
depends on my condition,
morning constitutional
before a late brunch.
Then, see you, I tell him.
***
Just had an epiphany.
Truly.
Not that I like to be alone
in the big city
That I like to do what I want
to do when I want
where I want to
with whom I want to do
it.
It’s not you I mind –
I like you –
it’s doing anything
I do not want to do
when I do not precisely
want to be there.
Might explain four marriages
too many jobs lost.
Got two fan letters today.
One from a guy I’ve known nearly 60 years.
Another from a lady I’ve never met.
People ask me what the site is like
and I tell them
imagine the bastard child of Sylvia Plath
& Charles Bukowski
doing drugs with
Hunter S. Thompson.
and having a drink.
After a 20-mile run.
Then wanting to talk.