BRADY’S CAFE
i’m doing a reading at kent state
got an iterminably long wait to get on
protestors outside provoke the cops
about an after nine pollution law
they bang bongos and march through
the cafe disrupting the reading
chanting “noise is illegal noise is illegal”
i’m getting nerve racked and edgy so i
drink a load of port from disguised juice
bottle and smoke a joint
the time drags and i get somewhat drunk-
my face a fiery blush and the the thump
of my heart somewhere up in my neck
it’s round midnight and i’m on
the crowd receptive to my words
never heard me slur or the slight
shake in my left knee.
