Almost An Illustrious Author Poem by Charles Wax

“Bernstein, I envy you, ”
said Moses Aaron Ginsberg
having gone from
a hundred eighty pounds
to three forty
in less than a year
because he abandoned
the glittering land
of crystal meth
fearing impotence
stroke
dementia
incarceration.
But I couldn’t figure out
why anyone should wanna be me
so said, “Why? ”
“The novel.”
“Not finished
not published, ” I informed him.
Moses Aaron Ginsberg shoved a Three Musketeers
candy bar whole
into his mouth
sucked for a second
then swallowed
since chewing without teeth
presented a problem
“You’re the Creator
I’m a zero, ” he said.
“Well...”
“What’d you think of my story
A Disabled Father? ”
I stared at him
wanting to boost his spirits
so said, “A fine piece of work! ”
“You actually
read it, ” he blurted out.
In truth
I couldn’t decipher
a single word
worst handwriting on the planet
minuscule bits of shaking
from years I’m sure
of ingesting every
exotic drug
known to man
yet Moses Aaron Ginsberg
refused the computer
saying machines frightened him
as did
most everything else
the world threw at him.