THE DEALER'S TALE


THE DEALER'S TALE


"...I got the smoke and that's no joke,
I got the joint and that's my point..."

Around and around
and dizzy around I
watch him parade in
loose circles lazy loops
figure eights mobius strips

"...I got the dope to light your rope,
I got the grass that'll kick you're ass..."

crisscrossing
the flat as my wallet
manicured as my boss' nails
green as new money
lawn of Bryant Park

"...I got the dime if you got the time,
I got the bag's gonna fly you're flag..."

pausing here
pausing there amid
the lunchtime crowd of
pale office seagulls
for quick trades of
cash for stash

"...I got the buzz that's what it does,
I got the high that'll paint your sky..."

during just another
summer of love
or lust or at
least fancy ties
and easy highs
Midtown's stuffy heat
meeting Harlem cool

"...I got the pot that's good and hot,
I got the weed and it's time to feed..."

in 1978 when most
white New Yorkers
still think Rap is what
nuns do to kid's knuckles
yet here we are
smoking indulgences like
cigarettes behind the gym

"...I got the leaf ain't got no grief,
I got the tea that'll set you free..."

I swing my head
it could have been
to shake off a fly
and so we trade
silent as a lonely poet
smooth as a trendy one

Then the minstrel
takes up his conceits
and wanders off again
while I return to reading
Canterbury Tales
beginning to understand
Chaucer in
a whole new light
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