wake up Susie .. .

The world was simpler then
when Phil and Don strummed guitars
and Mahalia Jackson sang of love and mercy
we thought we saw Gagarin’s shadow on the moon
but it was really blue cheese spread on pizza bread
with anchovies, salami and hot peppers
wake up little Susie you might soon be dead
and all the books you own will then become unread
and all the magic smokes you puffed turn to clouds and ashes
and all the drinks you sank blindly will be as though
you never held a single man or kissed insistent lips
and the genie goes back inside the old green bottle
when we all sit around an open fire and laugh at what we did
wake up little Susie your parents thoughts                                                                  – do they still matter?
your life now so meaningful, so rich and special
don’t listen to the poet inside of you
listen to the poet who slipped the noose
where are all the true poets like Ginsberg and Kerouac
Sylvia Plath or the great Bukowski who were freed
to pursue careers extolling the virtues of ‘freedom’
( hedonism, smoking, drinking )
from the sham of bureaucracy and deregulation
– break out Susie your time is still ahead
don’t you want to rail against those masters of war
today’s political leaders of whom somebody once said
they build their big guns and all the hypocrisy that surrounds them
wake up little Susie it is still a crowded house
and you still have a voice and your own life
wake up, you may have spilled the coffee on your sun dress
but your children or your friends ooh la la
those living, maybe give them a call
cliches, cliches, cliches
everyone’s tired and afraid of cliches
the end

©edenbraytoday21.08.2025

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