'Don'T You Listen To Him Dan...'* Poem by Tom J. Mariani

*an old Country Western Tune
sung by Son of the Pioneers

'...he spreads the buring sands
with water-cool-clear-water.'*
Chris Antley: age 34, jocky, dead, O.D.,
Xanax, meth, alcohol, Pasadena, California.

Who hasn't been to the edge of a pool-
Somehow found their back?
How to hang on without hope?
Someone else may know the rule;

Without drugs to help up and down,
Without a record nine 1st place wins in a day
And two Derby wins hanging on him
Like a heavy crown.

Cell phone in hand pacing 'round his pool
Nothing on the surface draws a smile.
Racing endless laps 'round the edge.
Thoroughbred going nowhere all the while.