Cocaine Blues #189
My friend, Jackson Browne,
Tells me I should take Sally,
And, sure, he’ll take Sue.
Claims there’s no difference,
Between the two.
But I know far better,
Now that I’m not under a haze
Brought on by the demon drug.
You see, Sally’s tall and thin.
Reminds me of Aunt Gert,
Before the Buick mishap
Turned her into Uncle Burt,
Because, well, let’s just say
She looks more like a guy
In the years after the accident.
And she doesn’t seem to mind.
Regarding Sue, she’s short and stout,
Always up for a game of billiards—
A real ringer, if you ask me.
Enjoys her nightly Sazerac,
Chased by two Marlboro Lights.
So, I’m afraid, there you have it.
The similarities twixt the two
Couldn’t be much clearer.
Unless, of course, you’re content
To blow the day away.
Bart Edelman’s poetry collections include Crossing the Hackensack (Prometheus Press), Under Damaris’ Dress (Lightning Publications), The Alphabet of Love (Red Hen Press), The Gentle Man (Red Hen Press), The Last Mojito (Red Hen Press), The Geographer’s Wife (Red Hen Press), Whistling to Trick the Wind (Meadowlark Press), and This Body Is Never at Rest: New and Selected Poems 1993 – 2023 (Meadowlark Press). Most recently, he has taught in the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. His work has been anthologized in textbooks published by City Lights Books, Longman, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, the University of Iowa Press, Wadsworth, and others.
