Victor Henry- Three Poems

BEFORE LAZARUS SAID

What am I going to do
With the rest of my life

And Galileo lost sight
In his right eye, I

Roamed promiscuous
Like a hunger artist.

You denied me a career
Upon the cross, a chance

To perform in the salons,
Poisoned me with plague.

After the music stops
I’ll cash in my master

Card for a few reams
Of paper and a good

Woman who understands
Paper is thinner

Than ice.

TRUE CONFESSIONS

I was hiding behind my poems.
I was too abstract.

You don’t want to be caught,
Taking down your own pants,

Coming through your own Muse.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE NEVER WON THE NOBEL PRIZE

And very few questioned he might have.
I saw him spend a crown or two

On runyons, heavy-assed and greasy,
Like tender loin cuts purchased on sale at Lucky’s,

Barbecued over someone else’s back yard fence.