New School (The Writer's Life in New York City)

Burroughs’ coffee grinder 
voice was coming through 
the driver's side speaker 
of my beat up ’82 
Volvo as I cruised 
slowly up 23rd, nursing 
a Johnny Walker headache 
with medicinal Good Morning 
America taken black 
and Dunhill smoke. 
A draft came in through 
the busted passenger 
window and tickled 
my exposed chest, 
carrying memories 
of Marsha tearing 
my button down 
shirt open last 
night, buttons 
flying everywhere, 
and her husband, 
my literature professor, 
walking in just as they hit the floor. 
A little blood still 
trickled down my nose 
from the few good shots 
he got in before I made it 
out the door. I finished
up the night at Cafe Tangiers,
woke up passed out in my car.
I had spent my last $3.50 
on a croissant from Au Bon Pain
which didn't fill me up at all,
and made my nausea more acute.
I was bleary and wall-
eyed, trying to take advantage of it 
by reading O'Hara with one eye 
and Ashberry with the other 
and drive at the same time, 
carefully planning out the poem 
I would later write about 
reading John and Frank
while listening to William S. 
and cruising up 31st or maybe 
17th with my java and cigarette 
when the car suddenly stopped. 
I staggered out to see 
what the deal was. Turns out
I had run into the side 
of one of the Big Apple's
countless historic landmarks. 
There was some cat playing 
a moody sax on the corner of 61st 
and 3rd and I thought
I guess I couldn't see
where I was going, after all.

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