Gerald Nicosia

I don't usually feature other people's poetry on SUFFOLK PUNCH--this is my ego trip--but the tone and purport of this little one by Gerald Nicosia coincides serendipitously with my new resolve to cheer myself up and appreciate the world around me, and the connections I can make with other people. "Been shooting in the dark too long/ When something's not right it's wrong," as Bob Dylan says. So it's like I wrote the poem anyway. There will be more work by Nicosia in forthcoming issues of ANGEL HEAD.

On Reading Some of the Dharma

The literati have a party
and late in the evening
only a few are left
trying to smile through their sadness
as they talk of writers' retreats
and deconstruction.
A few more drinks will bring
a few more laughs.
"You got another book out,"
one of them says
"that's what we live for"
while over in the corner
two of their children
are cutting leaves
off the houseplants
with kiddie scissors
and the biggest smiles imaginable.
Jack Kerouac says
the world is empty
but the children

know

bet-

ter.


~ Gerald Nicosia 3/ 14/ 98