Bryan Corbett

you know Ali and Foreman and Dempsey and Tyson
Louis and Frazier, Sugar Ray and Johnson
but do you recall?
the most famous boxer of all?
...

gone are the days of Jefferson
gone are the days of Lincoln
gone are the days of Kennedy
gone are the days of Reagan
...

oHIo
is
a
great place
...

a love like ours
simply was not
meant to be
like jamming
...

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Van Halen three that day:
The singers stood three to none, with but one more show to play
And then when Roth died at first, and Hagar did the same,
It seemed to all the fans that maybe Eddie was to blame
...

...

August 12th,1958,10: 00 a.m.
17 East 126 Street
between 5th and Madison
in Harlem
...

the 70's were a wacky time
for a whole lot of reasons that
I won't get into here
...

I was cruising in my truck
with my best friend Buck
and just our luck
we ran amuck
...

my white government
thinks affirmative action
is reaching back and helping
those who can't help themselves
...

had a very unsettling evening last night
the day started out normally enough
finished work, punched the clock,
went down to the corner bar for a few beers
...

how is bingo arm even possible?
have you ever seen those old birds play?
some of 'em play up to 60 cards at a time
four nights a week, and twice on Saturdays
...

Click. Clack.
Click. Clack.
the Master drinks
...

...

...

so, I really am trying
to understand what this person
standing in front of me is desperately to say
...

...

if you
find my
body
chopped up
...

my dad was a good man
a hardworking man
and, in general, had quite a bit
of horse sense
...

if I wrote a million poems
each one for her and her alone
each one telling yet another reason why
I love her so
...