When I drive cab
I am moved by strange whistles and wear a hat.
I am moved by strange whistles and wear a hat.
When I drive cab
I am the hunter. My prey leaps out from where it
hid, beguiling me with gestures.
I am the hunter. My prey leaps out from where it
hid, beguiling me with gestures.
When I drive cab
all may command me, yet I am in command of all who do.
all may command me, yet I am in command of all who do.
When I drive cab
I am guided by voices descending from the naked air.
When I drive cab
A revelation of movement comes to me. They wake now.
Now they want to work or look around. Now they want
drunkenness and heavy food. Now they contrive to love.
When I drive cab
I bring the sailor home from the sea. In the back of
my car he fingers the pelt of his maiden.
When I drive cab
I watch for stragglers in the urban order of things.
When I drive cab
I end the only lit and waitful thing in miles of
darkened houses.
--Lew Welch
I am guided by voices descending from the naked air.
When I drive cab
A revelation of movement comes to me. They wake now.
Now they want to work or look around. Now they want
drunkenness and heavy food. Now they contrive to love.
When I drive cab
I bring the sailor home from the sea. In the back of
my car he fingers the pelt of his maiden.
When I drive cab
I watch for stragglers in the urban order of things.
When I drive cab
I end the only lit and waitful thing in miles of
darkened houses.
--Lew Welch
Welch published and performed widely during the 1960s. He taught a poetry workshop as part of the University of California Extension in San Francisco from 1965 to 1970.
On May 23, 1971, he was believed to have committed suicide, after leaving a note. His body was never found[1]"
Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Welch
See also: http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/welch/
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2 comments:
Lew Welsh is one of my favorite poets. I would associate him more with the San Francisco Renaissance than the Beat Generation.
I drove cab in Racine for Sherry Cab, a black owned and operated cab company, in late 1973 or early '74. I was their first white driver. I just walked in and asked for the job. I think I lasted a couple of months. Being on the bottom of the ladder, I usually got the graveyard shift and couldn't make enough money to survive.
I never drove Cab, but I like that. I was especially fond of the "he fingers the pelt of his maiden" part. Interesting description of hair.
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