pioneertown.

I’ve come to believe a little
in innocence
But how could you
All of them?
They were only – participating
in - the unquantifiable
A birdman’s shuffle
You quantified them qualified and
disqualified them
Nonsense silly dreadful.
I find it impossible to accept
Unacceptable
You’ll have to anyway
or you won’t get far before your parched
and shriveled
Don’t you also find that impossible to accept
Don’t then – squirm and stew in it
or is it painless dumbed down
anesthetized in clouds of conviction
But how – was no one home
Is that the secret – vacate the premises
Well perhaps
Absolution in amnesia, absentia,
or a simple change of focus
Street people know something about ducking
and weaving
about managing a day unplugged
Ask them how it’s done, where the rubber
meets the road
How mashed potatoes at Boston Market offered
more solace and resolution for Mimi then worlds of
treatment and therapy
She was innocent
Almost completely – no one cares anymore
Except I do - still do
Who to share that with
Is anybody out there?
Anyone not armed to the teeth
Feeling the thump thump the pulse
in our own finger tips makes us less perishable
We lost the house – I couldn’t save it
Our child seems at loose ends wandering
Stepping stones turn cul-de-sacs
We never lost each other

Gary Galsworth grew up in the New York City area. After the Marine Corps he studied painting and filmmaking at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. His work has been featured in Abstract: Contemporary Expressions, Pennsylvania English, Temenos, Broad River Review, and others. In addition to writing poetry, he is a professional plumber and a lifelong student of Zen Meditation. He’s published three books of poems: “Yes Yes”, “Beyond the Wire”, and “Nothing Itself”. Gary lives in Hoboken, NJ.

© 2020