David McLansky Poems

I celebrate your safe return,
From the daily horrors that were your concerns:
The dread assembly of body parts
The broken limbs, the blasted hearts;
...

In my little garret room
Untouched by feather-duster broom
I slump down in my hard wood chair
And exhale cold clouds in icy air
...

For Lillian: In Memoriam

In the Hotel Marrakech
Two hippies traveling from the West;
...

It seems to me,
(Or am I obtuse?)
But language often,
Is a ruse,
...

Like a singer in some dark cafe,
I do not mark the night from day,
But turn and bow and pirouette
And sing the songs of my short set;
...

Demon Girl
Keeper of the Flame
In your shimmering sheath
You move naked without shame;
...

The advantages of a pretty wife
Are far out weighed by social strife,
Cablemen at my front door
Immigrants from distant shores,
...

If I was French
This would be
The day that Louis
Tried to flee
...

Oh where is Eusthacia,
The raven-haired beauty
Flower of the desert,
My Hollywood cutie.
...

Time won’t stand still
Though we arrive at perfection,
We age and fall ill
And know desolation.
...