Damon Hubbs

Love Gang 

All the Teddy Boys say Florence is the squeeze 
     and I see Ronnie reading a book of poems
at the hot dog stand on Rockaway Beach.
The men, gunning fast trucks
and all the sad captains pulled thro’ the pier.
Let’s sing switchblade operas and keep outrageous diaries.
Let’s walk mean streets with weighted leather belts 
drink rum and Cola in a Dixie Cup
suffer on and on and on 
     like a whip of red cake faltering in the sun.  

O, Ronnie —did you book a rocket to Russia
     pill heaven with the angels in chains? 
Our love was fast and simple. 
Now my drainpipe trousers pool 
with blood and you’re still on the move. 
I wanna smash cheap crockery. 
I wanna drink at the Bird and Brat, cry oof 
like a gun dropped, watch suicides from the Tappan Zee.
What happens next 
     is everything and mist.