The First One's Free Poem by Jeffrey Quattlebaum

Tell me
i'm sick
i'm dying
i'm into orgies
and seances
tell me I know
the language of
the DEAD
and I talk to ghosts
tell me
about the stroke
of midnight
and the baby crying
on the bridge
sending shivers and winning bets
between the wine-drunk teen-age
crowds and hovering
outcasts drink from
the same bottle as
the team quarterback
tell me
i'm dreaming
and i'm into the Tarot
and hunting ghosts
along the river
tell me
about migrating birds
and why it feels so empty
when they are gone
tell me
why i sit and wait
for them to come back home
and while i wait
i'm feeling older than i really should
O do tell
why do the trees show off
for a lonely
boy
that has no one but himself
and why do the dogs wander by
giving a hungry smile
when he needs it the
most?