I shall defeat death
not the old-fashioned way

As a boy (who destroyed his eyesight
Reading in the dark by flashlight)
I went to the library

It was cold where she was going and she was
susceptible to chills. She felt in her pocket
for her pills. She was out of breath

I.  In the sixth grade 
          Eisenhower to go down to South America 
          And Mrs. Goldman to write on the board, 

It had taken him long enough but now
He was an American. The years of effort had paid off.
He knew all about the pennant races and the Academy Awards

I never liked the World Trade Center.
When it went up I talked it down
as did many other New Yorkers.

And then they are there all of the people depressed 
Into tattoos or footprints or names plastered 
Or carved into wood or wall 

The first time I met Wittgenstein, I was
late. “The traffic was murder,” I explained.
He spent the next forty-five minutes

free advertising
all day and night

Freddie Mercury
Venus Williams
Bruno Mars