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I hung out with the Devil on Manhattan's
Lower East Side
Had a toke of poverty
long, slow, heavenly inhale
The hobos burning dreams
'round a trash can full of fear
Anesthetizing homelessness
'neath a cold, dark scrapered sky
Pimps and whores were ticking business
like Wall Street whackers on the Stock Exchange
Longing Johns laid with riches seeded
in the backs of black-glassed shiny white limos
The tenements lurched in the chains of their indignity
shutters cracking in the wind
Babies crying, dogs barking
unheeded or unheard
And when I asked the Devil what tunes he'd like to hear
boom-boxing with the fumes of brake-dancing automobiles
He smiled in his ghoulish way
with a glint of fire in his eye and said
"Gospel."
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Geez! the traffic is all gridlockin’
Dear Me! the birds have all quit singin’
Alas and Alak! the train’s stopped rollin’
Golly Gee! I hear the church bells ringin’
My Word! the forests, their leaves they’re losin’
Lordy Mercy! the cities are burnin’
Gadzooks! the air is sulfide smellin’
Heavens to Betsy! the world ain’t turnin’
Omigod!, the sun is fallin’
Say Hey, Albert! space time is slowin’
Jumpin Jiminy! the dead are risin’
For the love of God! I must get goin’
Sweet Fancy Moses! Sis is off to heaven
Hell! where’s that bitch that I’ve been screwin’
Damn it all, I’ve learned one lesson
Mary and Joseph, this world’s in ruin
Jesus H.Christ! I see him levitatin’
Well, fuck it, Lord! I’ll stay with Satan.
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Laurence Overmire is an American actor/director/writer who has worked on
stage, film and television. His poetry, eclectic in form and often
provocative in its direct confrontation of social issues, has been
widely published in the U.S. and abroad, including "The American
Muse," "Kimera," "Main Street Rag Poetry
Journal," "Lynx: Poetry from Bath," "Stirring,"
"Cotyledon," "Thunder Sandwich," "Samsara
Quarterly," "Jack Magazine," "Free Zone
Quarterly," "Pogonip," "Kookamonga Square" and
many others.
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Middle-aged,
restless, inchoate poet, Terry Boykie, possesses more than 20 years of
experience in fundraising, primarily on behalf of scientific,
environmental, and educational institutions. He began writing verse when
he turned 50 as a way to assuage the chronic pain of sensory neuropathy
and the realization that he would never win a batting title.
Terry
received a BA in biology from Montclair State College and an MA. in
earth science from Wesleyan University. Terry is active with the
American Society of Association Executives and the Association of
Fundraising Professionals. Terry lives in Washington, DC with his wife,
Barbara. Significantly, Terry is the inventor of Slashball,
The Game for the Next 100 Years.
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