(for Paul Goodman
in memory)
LOS ANGELES, 1980

Myth changes
everything for a poet
con-men
ex priests
sex police
non stop
stand up comedians,
as I drive along
in my Harley
carrying Paul Goodman
in a knapsack,
he goes on after me
but who will
easily admit him
by the stage show
as his legendary aura
haunts the hysteria
of the audience
there is an L.A. applause
from an hour of silence
feeling rootless
dressed for a city climax
Paul is a sleepless ghost
before a dressing room
with a guy putting
him on and his make up on
and Paul not resisting
summer slides
the inexorable self
of creature comfort
to ask and mask love
in a lover
under guiltless tables
long desired
and conceived
on the pages
of the Times
and Free Press
with his lavish pastiche
Paul snaps my picture.