For Ron Padgett, Poet

of a slightly deranged mind,

these poems of yours,

Ron Padgett

I mean,

as if the solution to hunger were to hurl oneself

into a vat of boiling radioactive carrots!

Now, what the fuck is that?

And what kind of person

Could even think it?

But that's your charm,

Ron Padgett:

a lifetime of turning

out these fluffy poems

comforting, like one's

old teddy bear

and then unexpectedly

showing a sharp pair of claws

you do that too, Ron Padgett...

you're a universal poet

qui cache son jeu

in the wrinkles of the musty suits

of the surrealist Paris poets

in the nineteen hundreds & somethings: Apollinaire,

Reverdy - your potes

you have a smashing good time

fucking around with reality

"Life is but a dream, Sh-Boom!

Oy vey! Just look at those mugs!

laughter everywhere you look

you know, from over here

you seem to have an enviable

life - perhaps a charmed life

but we poets know better

than that: no such thing

as a free lunch!

right, buddy?

but you made it out of Tulsa

and now are covered

in awards and fellowships and prizes

YOU COCKSUCKER!!

(the voices of the envious,

but not mine) I'm one of

the nice oncs,

which is why I'm writing

these lines for you - hoping

they'll please you because

you deserve it (maybe)

so take care, Ron Padgett, poet

be happy and healhy,

not the same as

wealhy & wise but

not so bad either. As for me,

I can't find a way

to end this "poem"

so let me just say goodbye

and I'll see you around in the memories

of the amazing lives we've lived.