POEM BEGINNING WITH A LINE FROM ED McMAHON

HIYO!!!

No excuses for how long it takes—
we’ve heard it all before, and that’s the end of it.

Unforgiven is just plain stingy:

Your friend has recommended you—
It’s scary accurate to see what celebrity you are—

nothing more.

Soaking it all in, and I don’t mean maybe:
the museum is clear most nights but mad on Mondays,
locks broken long ago by a knight with trashy manners.

I don’t care what kind of armor you wear:
people judge around here, so don’t forget it.

Shrunken head wreckage and bastard shenanigans
give me pause—this is the world we have chosen
(right, just business, right).

Some people call it a stone, not a pit.
Well, it ain’t you, babe,

I don’t care how much you wish.