Reading Harvey Shapiro's Poetry While Standing in Line to See Tom Hanks in APOLLO 13

Reading Harvey Shapiro's Poetry While Standing in Line to see Tom Hanks in APOLLO 13

I am afraid of space, the lack of gravity, the unmeasurable cold.
I am afraid of the distance between Tom Hanks and Harvey Shapiro.

Harvey Shapiro lives in Brooklyn Heights.
He sits by his window and listens to the neighbors.

A lonely car drives by his brownstone at three in the morning.
Why is it lonely? It is not loved.

More than anything, I am afraid of not being loved.
I want to stand under Harvey's window

and wail like a dumb cat.
Throw a shoe at me, Harvey, throw a shoe!

Jesus, I grew up on a reservation
and I wonder...

but there is no time to wonder.
This is America. We check our hats at the door
and jump into the heated debate.

The debate. Should we be spending billions
to send men and women into space
when there are people starving in Brooklyn Heights?

In Brooklyn Heights!

Norman Mailer lives in Brooklyn Heights
and thinks he knows the answer
so he is writing yet another epic novel.
Somebody needs to teach Norman about the haiku.

Harvey Shapiro, what do you say?
Harvey strokes his beard. Harvey smiles.

A strong wind cold blow a star-shaped hole right through
both of us.


Sherman Alexie..........from The Summer of Black Widows