DENOUEMENT

 
Do hippies still smoke joints, then twine
septuagenarian limbs together? Do punks
shoot up in varicose veins, peace spat

out by needles? As Cheetah Chrome says,
“Stay off the shit!” Don’t forget, the Beats
listened to jazz before Bird recorded

with strings. Prior to that, bohemian artists
heard Django Reinhardt; long before middle
class hipsters grew their hair and carried

pictures of Mao, to the vexation of Lennon
and fellow paisley adorned capitalists.
The Stones raked in money and sneered,

turning Elvis’ grin on its head. Don’t get
me started on the kids of today. Good kids.
But cosmic destiny is just your brain

connecting dots to give things meaning.
There’s no master plan. Life chugs along
until it doesn’t.