Michael N. Thompson

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF THE GENUINE ARTICLE

The old pier isn’t nearly as desolate

as when Amie taught me

what having “my sea legs” meant

I could hear kids laughing

from the penny arcade above

while Amie and I

gave each other face

until the only sounds

were the waves lapping

against our ankles

She moved to Arizona

for a more subdued life

while the arcade and tattoo stand

have left for Venice Beach

although that famous Ferris wheel

hasn’t moved an inch

and appears to be

some kind of landmark now

Rent-a-cops chase away

the old timers and their fishing poles,

pockets can’t get lined with them in the way

Nobody rides for free in this new age,

but just because something’s shiner

it doesn’t make it any better

You certainly won’t find the genuine article

down by that pier anymore,

it’s much easier selling

a cookie-cutter tapestry

to the unsuspecting public

Michael N. Thompson is the result of a debauched threesome between Neal Cassady, Anne Sexton and Darby Crash. Although born in San Francisco, he grew up in the Pacific Northwest before returning to his home state in the early 1990’s. His poems have been published in numerous literary journals including The Montucky Review, Word Riot, Toronto Quarterly and Lummox Press. He is the author of four poetry collections, the most recent being Verbal Alchemy (Blunt Trauma Press, 2012) and the forthcoming A Murder Of Crows (University Of Hell Press, 2014). Michael lives among the pastures and pines in Northern California. His website is www.michaelnthompson.com