Three Poems (by Mitch Sisskind)

The Old Pogue

The Old Pogue said, ‘Class with just a touch of

‘Wicked sleaze, or more than a touch, right, boys?

‘Admit it. Class plus wicked sleaze is what we want

‘In women. Oh, I wish I was born in ancient Egypt

‘When the gals painted their cheeks a shade of

‘Yellowish red and wore a green eye shadow

‘Made from malachite, a copper derivative, and

‘Kohl, a charcoal-like eyeliner favored by women

'Of the aristocracy. During the 18th Dynasty

‘Queen Hatshepsut herself ground frankincense

‘Into her eyeliner and in the Minoan civilization

‘Around 2000 BC in the Aegean Islands servant girls

‘Wore short jumpers hanging loose from the shoulders

‘To the knees with no belt that yelled out to fuck me.’

 

I Got Nowhere

In the whole world only one restaurant

Was patronized by both Leon Trotsky

And Bela Bartok. That would be the

Old 57th Street Automat in Manhattan.

Go into any restaurant today and ask

Whether Leon Trotsky ever ate there.

You'll get nowhere. Same with Bartok.

You'll get nowhere. They'll shoot you

A look of stupifaction. Apropos of which,

Years ago I took the subway down to a

Greek-run coffee shop on 86th Street

Where I'd heard Isaac Singer used to

Order a boiled potato. I got nowhere.

I asked if Bartok ate there. Who? What?

Charlie Livingston: A Novel

 

He went into the jewelry business.

He left the jewelry business and

Went into the rug business. He left

The rug business and went into

The landscaping business. He left

The landscaping business and went

Into the ladies' ready-to-wear

Business. He left the ladies' ready-to-

Wear business and went into the

Plumbing business. He left the plumbing

Business and went into the pet grooming

Business. He left the pet grooming business

And went into the car detailing business.

He left the car detailing business and went

Into the shoe business. He left the shoe

Business and went into the children's

Furniture business. He left the children's

Furniture business and went into the hair

Replacement business. He left the hair

Replacement business and went into the

Leather goods business. He left the leather

Goods business and went into the heating

And air conditioning business. He left the

Heating and air conditioning business and

Went into the printing business. He left the

Printing business and went into the exterminating

Business. He left the exterminating business

And went into the meat packing business.

He left the meat packing business and went

Into the organic vegetable business. He left

The organic vegetable business and went

Into the funeral home business. He left the

Funeral home business and went into

The bicycle shop business. He left the

The bicycle shop business and went into

The reinsurance business. He left the

Reinsurance business and went into the

Cow-and-calf business. He left the cow-and-

Calf business and went into the yarn business.

He left the yarn business and went into the

Deep sea fishing business. He left the deep

Sea fishing business and went into the beer

Distributorship business. He left the beer

Distributorship business and went into the

Made-to-order men's shirt business. He

Left the made-to-order men's shirt business

And went into the tropical fish business.

He left the tropical fish business and went

Into the cell phone repair business. He left

The cell phone repair and went into the

Waste removal business. He left the waste

Removal business and went into the private

Investigator business. He left the private

Investigator business and went into the picture

Framing business. He left the picture framing

Business and went into the jewelry business.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Tony Paris]

"I Got Nowhere" is wonderful. I had the same experience.

[Millicent Caliban]

I went into a hotel on the Bowery (in the 60's)and asked if Herman Melville had really lived there. I also got nowhere. I find poems about Automats very evocative.

[Molly Arden]

Same here.

[Summer Brenner]

Try the Chelsea.

[David Lehman]

I rented a room at the Chelsea in 1994. Arnold Weinstein lived next door. What a long time ago it now seems.