Excerpt
LATENT TENDENCIES
(stolen from M. Barney)


I told her I was a street performer,
danced like Bojangles, sang like Leon Redbone.
She asked me to do Stardust,
so I tapped a pair of cymbals between my knees.
and begged her for a dollar.

Then I told her I was an astronaut,
a veterinarian, an unemployed mime.
She told me to do the "invisible box" bit,
so I neutered a puppy in zero gravity,
hunched my shoulders and begged for a dollar,
silently.

I told her I was a poet and a liar.
She told me not to be redundant,
then tossed me a quarter.