poems from another world

     by patti smith

[from Another World: A Second Anthology of Works from the St. Mark's Poetry Project, edited by Anne Waldman, 1971]


THE FAMOUS EASTER ACT

stigmata susie
has the biggest feet in kansas city
call her sweet susie gunboats
feet as wide as ole lake erie

she's a landmark of america
call her purple spacious shoe susie
dances down the yosemite block dance
violet tap shoes from yosemite bay

that more than twice worn so tight
her feet bled for forty days
her feet bled for forty nights
ruined susies perfect arch


JANUARY 26

gerard de nerval
death by hanging
fear of sun snow
wear dark glasses

thought about a rabbit today
wearing dark glasses
thought about a rabbit today
thought about blind rabbit

it hurts just to think about
singing I try to work it out
dead in winter two calico shirts
they cut the rope that cut him down
hurts just to think about
wonder how he schemed it out
and how I'll do without him

metronome song
how pleasant to swing like a rabbit
how pleasant to slip
from the slip knot string
the kick thump moan
and everything swings
back like a timepiece
tolls back everything
swings back like a rabbit
grey fluff on a string


J.P.

unlucky katie marie
what she gonna do
it's only monday
she's got six more days to get through

she gotta wait and listen
but then she'll set you straight
she knows the ethics of the road
been on it since she's eight

well they take her
they shake her
they rock her
they rape her
and when they're done they drive her down
far as san jose
then she has to fill the time there
unlucky katie

unlucky katie marie
where she gonna go
it's only monday cross the border
she got six more days to go

well she's lonely tonight
and though she lives outside the law
though she'd take on any greaser
she got no mexican numbers
she can call

Oh unlucky Katie Marie
lays in bed alone
wishing it were friday
wishing she were stoned

Copyright © Patti Smith 1971



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