* 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