REASON TO BE

Your old world society
from frozen Minsk
always wanting acts
to dance or sing
came to Minskys'
with Ivan and Sasha
chosen
over the pale Pinsky
while I played
a pasha
with music by Nijinsky,
my stage manager
who spoke Russian
always said "Nyet"
except for my poetry
of my raison d'etre
my enfolded world of Pushkin
turned me into a Whitman.