shelly in the desert

shelly in the desert
by Dan Odell

hey you hot dog,
workin’ hard in the dessert
karma relief is near
i took that fellow to the Getty yesterday. it was transcendental.
he’s a burnt out alky intellectual and truly a mess
has blown his liver and smells rank from that

threw up in the museum
threw up in my car
as we drove down 7 levels to
park the car

the conversation was about Dante
we looked at impressionist paintings
and talked about transmutation
we looked at carved stone and talked about superstition
till he threw up the second time, (the first was on the train platform)
then we sat at a table in the food court
and talked about desire

later, on I-10 east he pointed out the patriot’s hall
which looks like a roman apartment building
and said
it
was to be renamed after Bob Hope

i had an intense feeling of deja vu
and he threw up in my car
as i started to laugh
and dropped him at his house in Bell
he promised to keep in touch
he didn’t say from where