the name king

The Name King

In the
name of
the father
in the
name of
the Roman
Empire in
the name
of Trout
Fishing in
America in
the name
of all
the dead
Kennedys in
the name
of all that
makes sense
& all that
doesn’t &
all the
people who
can’t tell
the difference
in the
name of
lame-brain
explanations &
this year’s
graduating class.

 

In the
name of
the trashmen
of our
dreams &
the garbage
collectors of
our wasted
days in
the name of
lost love
in the
name of
the worthy
opponent &
his second
loading the
pistol in
the name
of the
quick-change
artist &
the flimflam
man &
the seller
of snake
oil in
the name of
those who
go on
living past
the frontier
of hope
puking pebbles
& waving
their fists
at the
moon in
the name
of the
goon squad
& the
tennis champ
& all the
queers in
Chicago in
the name of
chocolate pudding
&
the subway
in the
name of
the nameless
fears &
blind alleys
in the
name of
exhumed
dead children.

 

In the
name of
legless beggars
& dwarves
in the
name of
the guillotine
& the
chopping block
where the
wood gets
split in
the name
of Attila
the Hun
& his
look-alike
cousins in
the name
of black
spiders in
your underwear
& in
the name
of whatever
it was
that just went
flashing by.

 

In the
name of
subservience &
the extra
time it
buys in
the name of
the lost
sock in
the laundromat
& the
pocket watch
that’s stopped
ticking in
the name of
poison darts
& Hiroshima’s
bright sky
in the
name of the
death rattle
the oxygen
tank &
Viagra in
the name
of the
whole ball
of wax
that melts
& runs
downhill
like a
river.

 

All hail the
Name King,
spinning thru
an impossible
sky.

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