Coming on strong for once, Vlad-
-mir leans in and delivers a line
so pure so long so in synch with time
there must be a universe in time
stopping in what he has said or has not said
since 1916 I’ve blue trains in my cabaret
I’ve reptilian smiles do you remember Vienna
Walter? When Vladimir bent in to whisper
an idea so beautiful it was worth slaying for?
Nine thousand cups to chipped china mugs tho-
-ugh this has nothing at all to do with ideology
you cannot support me this is not a political poem
I do not want to have anything to do with any politician
Ever. Living or dead. tho-
-ogh someone
must be ready to describe Lenin in a tutu, Lenin’s mother in a tutu
the spies in my mind are all loosely aligned
like when I sit and recall Vladimir Lenin’s dada moment
firing through the sky and at another glitch in time he’s
catching the millet in his teeth and oh my I was hoping
for better I guess I will always be hoping for better.
I suppose that all we can hope for is a little better.
.
Charlie Baylis