THE PERSUASION OF POWER

Remember the good old days
when we were all replicas
and didn't have nearly so much
personal responsibility?

It's hard to not pine for such simpler times
emotionally much less tiresome
to say nothing of letting one's double
deal with the alternate side of the street parking

Those were the years I spent
practicing a form of yoga called Heart Stop
and scouring the classifieds
for a reputable sleep dealer

A friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend
taught classes in The Persuasion Of Power
in a middle school on the East Side
with stairwells marked "You Do" and "You Don't"

The idea was simple enough:
convince your enemies that you could sing
Ask them what their favorite song was
And then sing it over and over and over

Badly
Very badly