UNDERGROUND VOICES: POETRY
M. BLAKE

Early Morning Fiends

Swirling around him, taking bites, pestering nips,
He waves at them until he is off balance and dizzy
Frustrated, angry, a bitter poison taking hold
A killer with a sudden iron grasp on his day
Demonstrating how insubstantial his place
In the everyday normal, the accepted routine,
Tossing his ideas into the indifferent elements,
Coldly dismissing his past creative efforts,
Reducing his seriousness to the status of foot mat,
Laughing at his thoughts of killing himself.
He has no defense against the punishment
Knows he can do nothing (for the moment)
About the beating, the tormenting voices,
A fight he has already lost.

No choice but to look to the next bout
Where he might stand a chance
Where he might be able to score some points
In this hardly great losing battle,
Just one more breathing, sweating effort
Undermined by that inevitable failure
An ineffectual flailing and moaning
On his way to nothing, a box, dirt.


He Went On

He went on with his motley outfit of memories
Through the long nights, in any weather,
On all sorts of roads, in strange
Unwelcoming neighborhoods
With watchdog residents.
Suddenly, he is an exposed man on foot.
Automatic spotlights wash over him.
Determined headlights aim for him
The intruder, the outsider, a puzzling sight
Steadily pushing through the mindset
Contributing to the current day follies,
Himself a clown in the ongoing movie,
A slightly shabby but persistent performer
Offering what he has and taking in
As much as possible, healthy with as little
As he has to carry, lean and capable
And not shrinking from a little sweat,
He has a big smile for the natural,
Unafraid to lay his bones in weed and bush,
More cautious of the Upholders
Of the Law
Or duty minded citizens
People who frown on backpacking tramps
(What brings a man out here?)
Who dislike the unusual,
Thrown off kilter by something different,
Outraged by the strange
And savage in defense of the norm.
Soldiers of commerce
He tips his hat to, politely,
As he makes his way
Down Main Street, U.S.A.









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