Richard Morrison
There’s an Army on the Dance Floor
The big hot beefy (white) CIS dude
in raw denim
moving through the airport
security line with porno
mustache and cultivated
oiled beard
Is he
Hipster? Bear?
An alt-right provocateur?
Lone-wolf assassin?
Is he Lumbersexual?
All of the above?
Is there a difference?
Does it matter?
Is that all there is to a fire?
Editor’s Note: The title of this poem is borrowed from the 1982 song “Love My Way” by British pop-rock band The Psychedelic Furs. The last line is borrowed from the song “Is That All There Is,” written by the American songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded most famously by Peggy Lee in 1969. The editor is not sure how he feels about his youth and childhood becoming historically distant enough to require explanation in an editor’s note.
Richard Morrison’s poems have appeared in Provincetown Arts and Christopher Street, among other publications. He holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia University (1991) and currently serves as editorial director for Fordham University Press.
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