my ac

i had a schedule opposite of most
when they left i came in on creaky trains
inside the dark stank tube stations pockmarked by iron tracks
i would swim against a crowd of bad odor stained shirts at the armpits
functionaries on auto pilot ʇolıdoʇnɐ uo sǝıɹɐuoıʇɔunɟ
they were leaving
i was coming
i was leaving
they were coming
each of us delivering services to businesses and residences
each of us susceptible to eventual resistance from the system
(P = I2R)
hundreds of kilovolts spent on paperwork and rules
thousands of cigarettes smoked heart attacks suffered
clogged poresarteriesroads
twisted pairs waveguides coaxial cables
inductive coupling and cross-talk interference
i hated the machine
it eviscerated us on a brilliant installment plan

my dc

hey man nice shot
stop tinkering and get to the real work
stop with the shortleancuts
the busfaretosomewhereelse
life ain’t supposed to be this way
he yells at me across K and 18th street
and steps resolutely into the puddle
hey man you’ve lost something
what
you’ve lost your shine
he yells at me across Connecticut ave
and points to his shinebox
four dollars a spitshine right here on the street while you wait
sir in your lunch break come on only four dollars no tip
hey man roses here
three dollars a bunch two for five
the Turk yells from his vending stand
parked across the street from the World Bank
and IMF while i cross and head toward
the White House
one pound of Kenya AA ground for espresso
tucked into my rucksack
hey man you fuckin parasite
a transient yells across the lawn of the West Wing
at a grey diplomatbureaucratpoliticianautocrat
smoking a stogey inside the well-guarded circle
we’ve been camped out here for over twenny-five years
the withering leatherface says entrenched in her makeshift camp
on the edge of Lafayette park
no nukes
we’ve been here since Carter left office and Reagan took the reins
tourists:
you know where I can get me a fresh baguette
you know where the Red Line is
what’s the name of that steakhouse at DuPont where Larry King eats
there goes HughSidey WalterKronkite Tucker Carlson ChrisMatthews LannyDavis
hey man fuck them guys they don’t mean shit to me
out here they discontinue just about everything that’s good and proper
outdated outfashioned outmoded out of season
this fuckin town is so transient just by virtue of its intrinsic cyclical nature nobody gives a shit about anybody they storm in here for four or eight years and trash the joint and go the fuck back to their safe homes in Missouri or Minnesota or Iowa they don’t give a shit what they leave behind the trash the homeless the desperate the row houses the gentrification of Northeast the cherry blossoms nothin
nothin
nothin man nothin