The Same Stupid Shit

“All of us
are made
up of stars,
he said,
“like the
dinosaurs
and birds.”

We were
sitting on a
bench
in a little
park across
from the
library,
after it had
closed,
sharing a
half pint of
gin.

He was
gesturing
at the
star-filled
sky and the
three quarter
moon.

“We are all
the same
stupid shit,
the same
components,”
he said,
as he stood
up with a
smile, a tear
rolling down
a dirt-caked
cheek, and
tilted the
bottle up
draining the
last of the
gin.

Doug Draime’s

latest book is More Than The Alley, a full-length poetry collection from Interior Noise Press. Also available are four chapbooks: Los Angeles Terminal: Poems 1971-1980 (Covert Press), In The Back of Madam Wong’s (Tree Killer Inc), Rock ’ n Roll Jizz (Propaganda Press), and an online chap, Speed of Light (Right Hand Pointing). A poet, short story writer, and playwright, Draime emerged as a presence in the literary ‘underground’ in Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. Awarded PEN grants in 1987, 1991, and 1992. During the last few years he has been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes. Forthcoming, a career spanning collection from Pedestrian Press, called Farrago Soup.