Poetry

Steve Koenig

PUNKBOY BLUES

i turn on the ceiling fan again
the room feeling too tennessee williams
marla sings “aint that a shame” with the new orleans gals
and the colored girls sing in germany
the deejay plays “down to love town” again
we step out to the iron-barred terrace
in the cold night air my glasses fogging
again again
drinking mezcal again
in a glass of monkeys but not home
again
the blond boy comes to my lips and asks me home
paralyzed in his acid eye
i choke no but thank you
i see him underground waiting for the steam train
just like me but i dont enter his car
the punkboy comes to my lips and asks me
to do him in the street
shirt ripped by hand, pins bridging his chest
and a longer pin through his cheek
paralyzed in his streetfleshpink
i see him underground in the tunnel
purple bulbs blue centers
the tracks silver pins no safety
even at the bottom of the stairs
slipping rumpbump steep and narrow
in snowclad shoes
they asked if i was all right
of course not i said but will be
of course not but will be
just say that i love you
just say you love me
and lay me at the crossroads
again

Steve Koenig is a Brooklyn-born and bred poet, educator, and activist. His poems have appeared in Brooklyn Day of the Poet, Poetry In Performance, Sensations, and Diseased Pariah News.  His music writing has appeared in LaFolia.com, Perfect Sound Forever, AllAboutJazz.com and Signal to Noise.  He’s Editor of AcousticLevitation.org: Journal of Arts and Culture.