Detroit Zen
I wrote this sequence when the economy crashed in 2008. I was newly married & happy, I had just discovered the genius poet Ono No Komachi…
I wrote this sequence when the economy crashed in 2008. I was newly married & happy; I had just discovered the genius poet Ono No Komachi. Eventually I lost everything but my wife & my sense of humor. I could not find a job for 19 months. Detroit was not a going concern.
— Patrick O’Leary
“It is possible to claim that Japanese poetry is purer, more essentially poetic. certainly it is less distracted by non-poetic considerations.” — Kenneth Rexroth, introduction to ONE HUNDRED POEMS FROM THE JAPANESE, New Directions, 1955
1.
It snowed.
It melted.
It snowed again.
We’re in some deep shit.
2.
I used to have money.
Now I’m broke.
What are you looking at?
3.
Cats eat.
Cats shed.
Cats sleep.
Some people have all the luck.
4.
Last time I read a paper
I realized here
is a lot worse
than everywhere else.
5.
At least in winter you don’t got
all these young girls.
All these young girls
& their belly buttons.
6.
You wanna beer?
I wanna beer.
Let’s get a fucking beer.
7.
My mom says: You call this living?
No girl? No future?
I say: Hey, Grandma.
Why don’t you die
& put yourself out of my misery?
8.
Last girl I dated said I had no soul.
No soul.
Hey, Rita. You show me a fucking soul
& I’ll pay good money for it.
9.
This town. This fucking grey town.
Half the people are unemployed.
The other half are retarded.
The rest of us just get by.
10.
All these newswomen.
What do they think I’m stupid?
The prettier they are
I won’t notice how shitty the news is?
11.
I’ll tell you how old I am.
Last time the Lions won a Championship
I wasn’t born.
12.
Some trees lose their branches.
Some trees still got ‘em.
It doesn’t matter where the dogs are pissing.
13.
Last time
I had a blow job
I was dreaming.
14.
This fucking city.
The mayor’s a crook.
The sports teams suck.
& just try to get a decent parking spot.
15.
Critter prints in the snow.
Bigger prints stomped all over them.
The fucking circle of life.
16.
I’m in debt.
You’re in debt.
Who’s fucking buying?
17.
All these pop idols on TV
with ants in their pants.
Hey, idiot! Stand still & sing.
18.
If I was rich
I’d pay off my mom’s mortgage
& watch her slowly go crazy
with nothing to worry about.
19.
I met a girl online.
She was older than her picture.
You can’t get away with that shit in a bar.
21.
I was happy in 1961.
Rocky Colavito
was the Tiger’s left fielder.
45 home runs, 140 RBIs
& I didn’t know shit about girls.
22.
26 weeks
of unemployment checks
is better than a shitty boss
who won’t laugh at your jokes.
23.
If GM goes bankrupt
— well —
let’s just leave it at that.
24.
In 1978 I saw Springsteen rock
Joe Louis Arena for three hours
Christ, Boss —
you don’t have to play every fucking song you know.
25.
The sky’s white.
The ground’s white.
That’s the suburbs for you.
26.
The factories close.
The homes foreclose.
On the other hand
we could all live in Flint.
27.
Detroit wasn’t always an eyesore.
But that was before the riots
28.
I was raised Catholic.
A religion where nobody dies.
Talk about a great marketing plan.
29.
I’m an only child.
Boo
fucking
hoo.
30.
Right about now
Detroit gets so cold
you can’t think of a damn reason
to get up
& you hit the snooze button.
31.
The boy squeezes the snowball
in his mittens.
Hides behind the hedge.
Waiting on dad to get home.
32.
Casinos.
Where hope
comes to die.
33.
My dad died in 1988.
Hey.
Thanks for the heads up.
34.
You ever see Rita
you tell her
I still have her sweater.
35.
Snow on
The Brown Bomber’s fist.
Two cold crows agree
Someday this will all be ours.