The Salesmen Poem by William Cassady

I remember when the salesmen came to town
Swatting dreams like distraction mosquitoes
They sold us horsespit a la mode
Traded them our wild cannonball dreams
For green slips of sadness
The new drug to alleviate our madness

And with our madness gone what have we now?

Minimum wage buys debt in a company store
And the boxcars all run to the jailhouse door
Voices of the past confined to collections
Anthologies of context lost
You could write a new on but don't expect a meal when you're done
Aspiration is worthless in the make this buy that die as soon as possible dogfight

But if we gave it up Let's Get It Back!

Let's put our pens on our papers
Our souls on dancehall floors
And our love in our lovers
Blow out our brains with jazz and bob
Pour beer in our bellies
Take tongues in our ears

It Might Just Be OK!

Let's put gas in our cars
To make miles for our tires
And seats for the hitchers
Pad our coats with dollar bills to keep us warm in the coming winter