{"id":1554,"date":"2013-01-28T00:46:27","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T00:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/?p=1554"},"modified":"2017-07-12T02:01:31","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T02:01:31","slug":"the-epitome-of-cool-by-art-heifetz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/the-epitome-of-cool-by-art-heifetz\/","title":{"rendered":"The Epitome of Cool by Art Heifetz"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OLYMPUS<\/a><\/h1>\n

The Epitome of Cool<\/h1>\n

by Art Heifetz<\/p>\n

I peered through granny glasses
\nat the standard issue
\ncrew cut frat boys
\nstrolling through the commons
\nwith one bottle blonde
\nappended to each arm.<\/p>\n

I was Sargent Pepper in my
\nRussian army greatcoat
\nwhich nearly swept the ground.
\nI was Dylan in a long red scarf,
\nsinging in a voice laced with gravel
\non MacDougal Street.<\/p>\n

I was the epitome of cool.<\/p>\n

Go ahead and accuse us
\nof stealing the last good causes,
\nof having the lines of battle
\nso clearly defined
\nyou knew where someone stood
\nby the length of his hair.<\/p>\n

Stoned out of our minds
\nor recently returned
\nfrom bad acid trips,
\nwe laughed hysterically
\nat jokes we couldn’t explain,
\nfeasting on frozen pies
\nand dinners of blue meatballs
\nand red spaghetti
\nthat Seuss would have loved.<\/p>\n

I remember the sad-eyed ladies,
\ntheir funky frizzy hair
\nsprouting in all directions
\nlike exuberant undergrowth,
\nthe dark promise of their nipples
\nclearly visible through
\ntheir sheer, flowered tops.
\nIf only I were poor or black enough
\nto take them in my arms.<\/p>\n

Tell us about the sixties, you ask,
\nas if we were discussing ancient Rome.
\nI answer with an aging hipster’s sigh,
\nto truly understand
\nyou’d have to be
\nat least as cool as me.<\/p>\n

###
\nArt Heifetz teaches ESL to refugees in Richmond, Va. He has had 60 poems published in six countries. You can see his work and leave comments at Polishedbrasspoems.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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