a
poem by
Jonathan Hayes
> bio
The Bottom Line
I collect the cat¹s orange toenails
Which have fallen off onto the wooden floor
During its scratching of the wicker chair
I also open the window so it can go out
On the fire escape and brush its furry mug up against
The neighbor¹s window for entrance & vittles
[inside the studio]
The movie is rewound
Ready to be returned
A dog barks on East 87th Street and First Avenue
This last tenement neighborhood of Yorkville
By Hell Gate & red paper hearts in the green park
The bells of Saint Joseph¹s seem
so far away
Make an altar out of the last day
NEW YEAR¹S / New York City
& a sixty-cents coffee headache
Heading for Kennedy Airport in a yellow cab
By Ward¹s Island & the Cantos of a departure
Legs & cocktails
Seated by a stranger to crash
w/
