THE LIFE OF THE FRISCO KID

The buckshot life
leaves you out in the sun
as Thom Gunn
passes away,
but every day
of the year
we may in prick song rose
pluck his musical ear
still imagine with him
he is one year younger
in the town square
with lyrical songs
from his rhetoric
in poetry to hear
as he wants to pick up
the wronged waiter
who delivered croissants
vodka and juice to you
which spilled
on your new shirt
yet under the romantic stars
you are not petty or hurt
staring at him
in his Prussian blue blouse
and later at midnight
you will read to him
and others in English
of translated verse
from a German mood
with a few critics at City Lights
knowing he speaks French
too is tall and homeless
and hails from Montreal
they later sat
by lilacs, violets
and his Persian cat
on a park bench
then set sail on the Bay
in the darkness
and Thom, you
only had only to whisper "Yes"
from a poster loneliness
to spend the night.