A poem for vipers
By John Wieners
I sit in Lees. At 11:40 PM with
Jimmy the pusher. He teaches me
Ju Ju. Hot on the table before us
shrimp foo yong, rice and mushroom
chow yuke. Up the street under the wheels
of a strange car is his stash—The ritual.
We make it. And have made it.
For months now together after midnight.
Soon I know the fuzz will
interrupt, will arrest Jimmy and
I shall be placed on probation. The poem
does not lie to us. We lie under
its law, alive in the glamour of this hour
able to enter into the sacred places
of his dark people, who carry secrets
glassed in their eyes and hide words
under the coats of their tongue.
6.16.58
Copyright Credit: John Wieners, "A poem for vipers" from Selected poems, 1958-1984, published by Black Sparrow Books. Copyright © 1986 by John Wieners. Reprinted by permission of the John Wieners Literary Trust.
Source: Selected poems, 1958-1984 (Black Sparrow Books, 1986)