In Memory of my favorite person in the world, Dorian Sean Gaffney (1989-2016)
BROTHERS
You taught me all, brother,
how to read palm,
how to misbehave,
how to dress, to steal, to brawl,
There was no such thing as shame.
We have tamed solitude,
we have lost our way,
We have been soldiers of fortune,
Unworthy sons of Dorian Gray,
We’ve been stray poets, and warlocks,
We’ve been pickpockets and dogs,
Upon all lies and dreams, we’ve reigned,
There was no such thing as pain.
You’ve shown me kings, fools, dancing teeths, Angels on patrol, Flea-ridden flophouses and finger tricks and killers on the loose, we’ve teamed up with breathless birds, strange gurus and the most despicable reptiles, we have kissed dark roads, serpents, milky bosoms, calloused hands, tiny leather shorts, deep murky waters, we have dined on the sacred wings of a moth.
You taught me all but loss,
And then this late lesson of cruelty,
Jesus on a hypodermic cross…
There is no such thing as beauty.
S.C.R.I.B.E.