return of the chosen profession

occupation


…and then there was jack kerouac
who looked like a loathsome car salesman,
and in truth, sounded like a bored car salesman,
one with no fire left, no remaining pitch,
but enough rough, good looks to
make it with the ladies and occasionally
get a free drink from some young kid
who mistook him for a retired ballplayer;
but mostly he just seemed glum about everything,
a man who seemed to scorn the very road
he helped to pave…

…down the street hobbled whitman and burroughs,
census takers in their square, pallbearer suits…

…poe was an irritated barber…

…gunn was a mechanic who specialized
in refitting the engines of classic beasts…

…carney ran a pawn shop in the worst part of town…

…baraka was a grocer who handed out penny candy,
but only to children who were polite and told the truth…

…and di prima led the women’s choir in the temperance league,
yet harbored insatiable lust beneath her woolen cloak.

scn/8-1-5