floating around the curl of rocks and sand, there are pyramids and cliff dwellings that open their doors like great yawns to the upcoming sun.
How slowly we enter age and sleep, were it all a matter of putting oneâs head down and thought escaping like air from the insides of punctured tubes, movement would be a thin rose in the beaks of winged animals and today: a day of work and weariness would no longer be a necessity.
Food enters the mouth on the sharp edge of steel; it is not everything that we have bellies full or that our hair is shiny and combed. There are those of us that sleep well in doorways and on benches, not for reason or choice but because of the hard edge of vision in these times.
If I turned from twenty-three to eighty in the simple sway from window to bed what lives would remain in my heart, what answers to the questions of solitude and movement?
September 25, 1977
Gonna put together a collection of voicesâoverheard monologues or character monologues thatâll consist of junkies in a Chinese/American restaurant in Frisco, junkie on 8th Avenue and 43rd, Arthur Treacherâs Fish & Chips, Mike the bookstore guard, and the kid in Reno pickup truck, Huncke and others. * Illustrations will be photos of odd moments/people retreating into darkness/around corners/sliding off tables in old restaurants/back views/views from the shoulders down.
[No date] 9:30 P.M.
Phone woke me at ten with Dennis on the other end. I was foggy and rubbery I couldnât get my brains unscrambled. He was in Rahway, New Jersey, and was illâpossibly a fluâneeded someone with a car to come and pick him up. I got the number of the pay phone he was nearby and promised to call him back. Then sat with my phone/address book and called everybody to get a car. Most were not home and those who were didnât have a car at their disposal. Talked with Mom and she sounded slightly out of itâlike pressure everywhere. She told me a story on young New York poetsâwith me, Dennis, and John in it, was going into Fordham Paper over the weekend. I called Syd in New Jersey; first time we talked in two years. I was afraid to call at first as I didnât know what was going on in his life, like maybe everything had changed and he was no longer interested in going out anymore. He was real happy to hear from me and we made plans to get together this coming Thursday. I realized how much I missed and love him. I would spend the rest of my life easy with that man if he werenât married and was open to a relationshipâseriously. I grew through more heavy areas in my life with his aid than with anyone I know, and to renew contact with him was good.
I finally tried Laura and she agreed to come out with me to Dennisâs spot and pick him up. I met her after a quick shower at Penn Central and we caught a bus out to her parentsâ house in Long Island. After arriving we discovered the keys were with her father at his job and we had to take a taxi over to pick them up. After that I called and said I wasnât coming to work till late and then we split. Made it out to Rahway hours later over the Verrazano Bridge through Staten Island and over the Goethals Bridge. Poor Dennis looked like Papa Grump with his thermal pants and undershirt. He looked healthy but moved around like he was tired and sick. We drove him home after loading the bike into the car and he gave yells of New York! God! I donât believe Iâm home! etc. Laura let me drive for a period. Over the Verrazano I took the wheel and drove the rest of the way. Did okay although a slight mistake once. Sure I could pass the exam if I took it, ya know?
After Dennis went to sleep Laura and I stayed in the room adjacent to the kitchen and talked and listened to Handel, Wagner, and the Stones for a while. She reached towards me several times, wrapped her arms around me and I responded but held back as I felt it would be a bad thing for both of us if it
How slowly we enter age and sleep, were it all a matter of putting oneâs head down and thought escaping like air from the insides of punctured tubes, movement would be a thin rose in the beaks of winged animals and today: a day of work and weariness would no longer be a necessity.
Food enters the mouth on the sharp edge of steel; it is not everything that we have bellies full or that our hair is shiny and combed. There are those of us that sleep well in doorways and on benches, not for reason or choice but because of the hard edge of vision in these times.
If I turned from twenty-three to eighty in the simple sway from window to bed what lives would remain in my heart, what answers to the questions of solitude and movement?
September 25, 1977
Gonna put together a collection of voicesâoverheard monologues or character monologues thatâll consist of junkies in a Chinese/American restaurant in Frisco, junkie on 8th Avenue and 43rd, Arthur Treacherâs Fish & Chips, Mike the bookstore guard, and the kid in Reno pickup truck, Huncke and others. * Illustrations will be photos of odd moments/people retreating into darkness/around corners/sliding off tables in old restaurants/back views/views from the shoulders down.
[No date] 9:30 P.M.
Phone woke me at ten with Dennis on the other end. I was foggy and rubbery I couldnât get my brains unscrambled. He was in Rahway, New Jersey, and was illâpossibly a fluâneeded someone with a car to come and pick him up. I got the number of the pay phone he was nearby and promised to call him back. Then sat with my phone/address book and called everybody to get a car. Most were not home and those who were didnât have a car at their disposal. Talked with Mom and she sounded slightly out of itâlike pressure everywhere. She told me a story on young New York poetsâwith me, Dennis, and John in it, was going into Fordham Paper over the weekend. I called Syd in New Jersey; first time we talked in two years. I was afraid to call at first as I didnât know what was going on in his life, like maybe everything had changed and he was no longer interested in going out anymore. He was real happy to hear from me and we made plans to get together this coming Thursday. I realized how much I missed and love him. I would spend the rest of my life easy with that man if he werenât married and was open to a relationshipâseriously. I grew through more heavy areas in my life with his aid than with anyone I know, and to renew contact with him was good.
I finally tried Laura and she agreed to come out with me to Dennisâs spot and pick him up. I met her after a quick shower at Penn Central and we caught a bus out to her parentsâ house in Long Island. After arriving we discovered the keys were with her father at his job and we had to take a taxi over to pick them up. After that I called and said I wasnât coming to work till late and then we split. Made it out to Rahway hours later over the Verrazano Bridge through Staten Island and over the Goethals Bridge. Poor Dennis looked like Papa Grump with his thermal pants and undershirt. He looked healthy but moved around like he was tired and sick. We drove him home after loading the bike into the car and he gave yells of New York! God! I donât believe Iâm home! etc. Laura let me drive for a period. Over the Verrazano I took the wheel and drove the rest of the way. Did okay although a slight mistake once. Sure I could pass the exam if I took it, ya know?
After Dennis went to sleep Laura and I stayed in the room adjacent to the kitchen and talked and listened to Handel, Wagner, and the Stones for a while. She reached towards me several times, wrapped her arms around me and I responded but held back as I felt it would be a bad thing for both of us if it
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