Frank Giampietro
August 2009




Frankie the Haggler


                                                   Anywho,
                                                           'twas raining
and cold when we got to the station,
                                    and by the time we did get there
              those little baby-on-board signs
had receded into the darkness of their sleeper cars.

              Ever tried to actually sleep in one of those? 
                        Say, maybe we ought to have
                                    a gander at the other blue thing.
Maybe we should spill another
            bag of potatoes onto the floor. Maybe I ought
 
                        to rest up, for tomorrow
is another day. So what
                        if the palace is burning and you are sad. 
Go sing thy aria in someone else's dense forest. 
            Chop-chop,

            times like these, I feels like big ol' Saturn:
if the little chickens don't run and hide,
                                                                        I eats 'em.



"Frankie the Haggler" from Begin Anywhere.
Copyright ©2008 by Frank Giampietro.
Reprinted with the permission of Alice James Books.