ode to gary lee

[sweetwater]

i knew man named gary lee out west
who spoke poetry like this -

out of the bleak and empty woods i call thee
out of the dark and dying empty places you hide
moving in the shadow of a tall embrace
find the wind the source of all

the sun the moon and stars

gary lee was this type of poet
who imagined the great wide open

called it to himself
spoke in the speaking of a great world of nature
and natural beginnings

didn't think it translated well for my urban indoctrination

though his poetry much loved in the humour it made me feel

i laughed a lot those days

we wrote poetry and got stoned

walked in forests and got lost

not just gary lee and me but ron and tim
and leah and names i forget prue and her
absurd dialectic boyfriend writing plays
about complete nonsense and absurdity

me writing plays about blackflowers
tim writing plays about delusion boy

ron writing plays about wild sex dreams

leah writing plays about innocence and flowers
that blossom and why we can't all get along

but gary lee who worked in a rehab
which tells his story

and his indigenous beginnings

never spoke of negative wanderings or flattery

he was an anarchist and i laughed about it

becasuse i deemed anarchy a failure
in its inability to organize

i laughed a lot those days

and still do
i laugh a lot at studio eight and still do
i enjoy the laughter and forgetting

and still do