Gertrude and Ludwig’s Bogus Adventure

            for Gabriele Mintz

As Billy goes higher all the balloons
Get marooned on the other side of the
Lunar landscape. The module’s broke –
It seems like for an eternity, but who’s
Counting – and Sally’s joined the Moonies
So we don’t see so much of her anyhow.
Notorious novelty – I’d settle for a good
Cup of Chase & Sand-borne – though when
The string’s are broken on the guitar
You can always use it as a coffee table.
Vienna was cold at that time of year.
The sachertorte tasted sweet but the memory
burned in the colon. Get a grip, get a grip, before
The Grippe gets you. Glad to see the picture
Of ink – the pitcher that pours before
Throwing the Ball, with never a catcher in sight.
Never a catcher but sometimes a catch, or
A clinch or a clutch or a spoon – never a
Catcher but plenty o’ flack, ‘till we meet
On this side of the tune.

From My Way: Speeches and Poems (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1999)