Beatnik Snap

Pale white against the ghostly fog Smoke curled for lack of oxygen Black rim glasses hide, head bows Conceal eyes of cool cat daddy-o In dark, goatee, groomed and moody Beret tilted silhouetted, covers identity Captures blues wrapped in a sax Brown paper bags cover booze Jazz releases notes unknown to claps Fingers snap approval to the poets silence Something to be trusted no matter what Underworld shadows gather dust A secret spot built on a fog bank conjured up On a dingy dream found five steps down A hideaway ten degrees below zero and counting Leading beyond all cafe dive boundaries Cold nights survive on hanging tunes College degrees wall to wall leave hollow marks Jive time turkeys hold on to hot tea instead Twilight characters friendly as death reset Step down in reality to displease history Bass man puffs his last cigarette Joint smokers fill up the cavern Underworld types gather with germs abounding Fallen ash in trays lose attention Coffee stains on tables remain Stale as bread half consumed Down and dirty with the blues Tinted in a melancholy stench Night life rises numb, basement ready Dim lights permeate the senses Lays waste to the alley cat man Smoke rises in a trance to swoon Turtle necks hold stiff men intact A band doing hourly sessions Jam Bass players hammer out shadows Discord is all that matters To mimic politics, smoke marijuana The attraction of the day is on the menu Curse words say it all Snap and double snap poetry incognito Verses flow like painted butter on walls On melted atomic babies breath powdered bottom For war, use the toilets next door on the right Bullets are the flavor of the day The favorite flavor after blanks Matchstick men in bazooka suits flirt The moon turns supersonic jello cool Cool cats know squares from pigs Cubes are abstractions of night sticks Never mix with visions of gas lamps It is a gas man, can you dig it Elephant dancers run wild man Suspicious of pigs who shoot first Ask questions about bacon later Snap daddy snap on beatnik back