* Poem by Steve Dalachinsky


incomplete directions  (for Bernhard Streit)

to write eternity
on a piece of paper
is so easy
then everything else follows:

walls
shadows
dreams
death
life
gurus
signs that say keep off the grass
signs that say don't feed the birds
signs that say not too fast
signs that say not so slow
this new generation of ours
already grown old
this new year
nothing

when i asked the man for directions
on how to get to eternity
he said just keep walking
& then you'll come to the end of the street
& when you get to the end of the street
just keep walking & you'll come to the end of the street
& when you get to the end of the street
just keep walking & you'll get to the end of the street
& when you get to the end of the street just keep walking
you get the idea

to write eternity on a piece of paper
is so easy
then everything else follows:
poets
drunkards
lovers
flowers
paranoids
ceilings
bombs
toilets
answers
fingers pointing
picking noses

to find eternity is very hard
to be eternity is very hard

signs that say
stop  you are now approaching eternity
signs that say  eternity is just around the corner
signs that say  school crossing
signs that say  at the end of this street  eternity
  slow down  no alcoholic beverages  no unnecessary noise
   don't feed the pigeons   don't squeeze the squirrels
      at the end of this street    eternity
   then just keep on walking  until you get to the end of this 
   street & when you get to the end of this street just keep on
   walking
            circles
            doormats
            windows
            mirrors you spoke to yourself in your mirror
                    you decided to change by changing the     
                    course of the street
                    that's o.k.
                    the course we've walked
                    is dead
                    but we keep walking
                    the new course will be similar
                    to the old
                    in just one way
                    when we get to the end of the street
                    we will just keep walking

but maybe we'll  stop
stop searching
stop walking
sit down & rest
& kiss & talk & hug & fight & love & die
& never mention  eternity
when we get to the end of the street
we'll stop
maybe even turn around if it's not too late
that's nice

it's nice to look for something that's hard to find
but such bullshit to write it down
nothing pretty or romantic about this poem
nothing at all to read
these signs that say more signs
danger
slippery
falling rock zone
deer crossing
sharp turn
heaven
hell

so easy to write heaven on a piece of stone...............
                                                             
                                                        
coda:
         the old tall thin grey man
         in the old tall thin grey suit
         came toward me  arms out  beckoning
         holding in his left hand
         a small grey card
         & saying in a thin sharp grey voice
         i don't wanna die yet 
         i don't wanna die yet
         i don't wanna die yet 

         i turned & ran in panic to the white living room
         slammed his fingers in the door
         slammed the covers over my head
        
         easy to write death
         & then eternity follows
         as easy to run away
         or walk to the end of the street
         & just keep walking
        
         maybe if we reach the river
         we can take the stone
         & drop it in.

Steve Dalachinsky
New York City, NY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Dalachinsky