David McLansky Poems

Be my mirror, be my glass
Let this inspection from me pass;
That something good of me might last,
I shift the burden of this task;
...

He wished the world a holocaust,
So he could rise and be the boss;
He of sinew and strong arm,
He dreamed of peons on his farm;
...

Why must you treat me like the Dane,
Hamlet full of doubts,
You urge me on, you turn me off
I don’t know what you’re about;
...

The Sergeant at the high desk grunted
Looked down at her as if she was stunted,
“You say your Muse's been gone how long?
Your lady, you know, with the songs!
...

I say this without a hint of malice
But I think of radishes
When I think of Alice,
Of cauliflower, of
...

As we drift upon the stream
On silvered light as in a dream,
The oars blades stored within the boat,
Languidly we drift and float;
...

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,
...