no way to enjoy a new year's party

sitting on laurels and acting hardy
is no way to enjoy a new year's party
there are backstabbing friends who need an inch
friends who love you in a cinch
crippled in last year's Jerry marathon 
of abbots who heard Costello's mistrals
gone homo on empty stomachs 
smartly read book-Marx too hot to Trotsky
waving rainbow flags with white backlashes
impolite eyelashes 
stopping behind the judge's bench
testifying their rudeness
through all the newness
like an unwatched television overnight
a travel writer's infomercial's 
pressing need to be public
on way to his next global mess

when the river knows best 
in all weather flows
day and night throughout the years
listen to its trickling stream
through sound bites of motor tires
drowning a countdown video chat to Connecticut
Messenger image dark-orange and ghoulish 
set against lush green Taiwan gardens
backdrop of this American escapee 
in a place where wonders never cease
and wisdom never ends
turning the calendar up 
return to day one again
new year's day in warmth
hazy breeze sifting the air
lifting the bicycle into outer space
spiked canteen of permanent dreams
an all-star on deck with assisted vision
unmasked suggestion box glistening
on the wings of yellow butterflies
fluttering by in pairs of proximity
just like my lady and me 
  
January 1, 2017