The Vile City (c. 1975)

A vile city, cinder walls,
people looking blank.

Who's that one there smiling?
must've had a drink.

Bleeding through the nose and mouth -
nothing from my ears -
can't see well but that's all right,
eases some my fears.

Hampered vision, a place like this
go together well.
What's to see, what's to feel,
in a place like Hell?

Why the rhyme
all the time?
Loosen up you fool!
words are words,
thoughts are thoughts -
letters just a tool.

Now I'm stuck in fond embrace
with a medium I can't stand -
a little strong, perhaps, that line,
but it took up some more space.

Nothing serious can I write,
nothing dark and heavy -
except perhaps a grizzly bear
or two tons of bituminous coal.