Cocked by a famous name
Delving face first into the manjungle
Sucking the fruit, dry of its juices.
A journal full of big names
A world of poetry with plain faces
No new—only Famous
The Best American Poetry
Respect the greats
But ousted by an unknown,
Loosen the grip on the metaphorical
Penis: fame.
Notice the greenish-yellow bug guts on the window
That a being has ceased to be
That a fatherless beetle baby has organized a search party
In a feeble attempt to hold wings with her daddy
Or the intricacy of a poem with 88 dusty keys,
Worn brass peddles—one broken,
230 strings crafted a century ago
Still being struck by hammers
With precision. Close your eyes
Like Ray Charles and hear the music
Or ignore the sounds like Ludwig Beethoven
And feel them.
Enjoy them
Pull them out on a sunny day
Stop tainting art with people
And throw away the garbage.
Wayne-Alan Lamb is a writer from Western Oregon University. He has published work online and in print, including his most recently published poems“Here on this Paper,” which was published in Pearl 37,and “Heaven Here,” which was published in The HazMat Review early in 2009. His most recently published piece was a short story “Truly the Mouse,” published in Danse Macabre in August, 2009.