JUST BECAUSE I'M HOMELESS DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT I'M DUMB...

"Well, he was a homeless man who convinced me he was a poet...& writer, who wrote Broadway plays...and what not..."
-"OBSIDIAN!!!"

Mr. James York Talked
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1991]



Mr. James York talked
Of cabarets and Broadway lights
Of syncopated music and champagne nights

Mr. James York talked of twelve drummers drumming
Floodlights
Roll’em!
Laurence Fishburnes’ coming
Of Porgy and Bess
Males burlesque
Lisa Minelli’s cabaret
Of stage hands fumbling
Wild Irish Rose…
Tumbling
Thou Swell
Oh, what the hell
Everyone has their day

Mr. James York talked
Of stag props settings
Of bourgeoisies toasting
Hot hor d’oeuvres roasting
Fund raising menageries
Of Oscar Awards betting
Production managers sweating
Limousines and cigarette machines
Smokescreens
Ben Verenes!
Magazines
Write-ups in the headlines the next day

Mr. James York talked of spunk
Pzaz!
All That Jazz
Alice through the looking smoke-stained-glass of wine
Chorus lines
“Brother, can you spare a dime, so I can attend the Tony Awards
With fancy broads?”
Standing OV’s
Prime time TV’s
Commercial breaks and long applauds

Mr. James York talked
Of Grand Central dancing
Commuters romancing
Schedule board flips
Lullabies
Round trips
Steam engine
Waltz
Two step
Halts
Forty Second Street
All aboard!
Conductor snaps the cord
Movie scene
It’s Fisher King!
Whirling couples on a movies screen
Slight of hand
It’s just a dream
Mug’s dry
Smarts the eye, ya know what I mean?

When Mr. James York talks
I have to take a walk
‘Cause we can talk our lives away
Bottle’s passed
Eyes at half-mast
Life’s a blast!
What else can I say?
Everyone has their day
Everyone has their day…