12.4.09

Job


It could be one cold interview at the end

And maybe that is why we get buried in suits
A gin and tonic and a sinner’s cigar
Dry-cleaning ticket taped to a security deposit

My uncle gave me Elvis, “now I’m dead, now I’m dead”
And I made an excuse for that rhythm
It could be one chair and a stern fatherly stare
At the end, or it could be sex with someone’s mother

Better list all your strengths and boyhood pranks
In the margins where a careful heart could see them
On the cover, dead center, an olive branch
And a decent guess of your worth


4 comments:

UK said...

Aw, don't be glum...after all, He could have left the world to the monkeys but He didn't.

Unless that's actually "Monkees" instead, in which case all you can say is - what a great idea!

Mark said...

Don't worry, I write a lot of "could be" poems, but I don't really know what I'm talking about. Hmm... maybe I should keep that under wraps. ;)

Really great mix you made me, by the way. I've only been all the way through it once, but I liked almost everything to some degree (and loved some of them).

UK said...

"...I liked almost everything to some degree (and loved some of them)."

Dangerous words, mein Neffe. Dangerous words to say to a man who Never Knows When To Stop.

Mark said...

Well, I'll make you a deal. Give my R.E.M. sampler a listen again sometime, and tell me which (if any) of the songs strike a chord with you, and I'll get you the album from whence they came.

Meanwhile, I'll try to see if there are a few EC songs that I liked that all came off the same album, and continue my education in that direction.