ANGELO VERGA

THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR

There are a few of them every September
Days so exquisite they hurt
Cool morning hot afternoon, dry, with just a hint of wind
And if you are lucky one of them is a Sunday
Or some other day you can steal
Outdoors, this one is a long bicycle ride north
Meet you at 79th street and wheel together south
To Battery Park and the smell of salt on the water.
 

Your skin is reddish & brown, your hair thick curls
All tangled by the wind and sun and sweat.
I’m neither thirsty nor hungry
We talk as we roll south. At my age how often
Am I going to have such a day? My body working
Perfectly, a beautiful woman laughing at everything I say.
There are some days so superb they hurt
But such ache I wouldn’t mind having
 

A hundred, a thousand more times.
 

DETROIT

the bible quoting cab driver wants to kiss me
when i tell him i have $40
and a couple of hours to kill,
he'll be glad to take me to the airport
he'll be glad to take me to Chicago
he will be glad to take me
where the girls are. where are they? yes,
of course in the hotel I just left
room service, you ask for the deluxe night package
the sun soaking into my black wool jacket
and the wind messing my hair along the river
the Underground Railroad slaves
conducted to Windsor on the other side
of the 6 month frozen water walked
barefoot from Alabama to Canada
and Aretha Franklin sang Amazing Grace
and did autographs after
from her electric go-cart
I charm all the women in The Motor City
out of their large lacy underpants, eat
$9 breakfasts, but am real glad
to fly home Saturday night, damn
damned long ride home, citizen soldiers
National Guard rifles at the airport
didn't make me feel safe at all,
this was before postal workers
started getting anthrax
 

Angelo Verga, born 1945 in NYC, curates and hosts spoken word & poetry readings at The Cornelia Street Café in post-beat Greenwich Village. His first full-length collection, A HURRICANE IS, was published by Jane Street Press in 2003 to very favorable reviews. He also has two chapbooks in print and his poems have appeared in scores of journals and anthologies, including Massachusetts Review, Rattle, Home Planet News, The Patterson Literary Review, Hanging Loose, Mudfish, The Temple, Blue Mesa Review, Graffiti Rag, Greetings, Parting Gifts, Poetry Motel, Pearl. His work appears in a comprehensive & highly regarded new anthology of 20th century American verse, Birthday Poems (Thunder's Mouth @2002, edited by Jason Shinder).

A postal worker for 30+ years, now "retired" and a full time writer, editor, teacher, and promoter of poetry in public spaces, Verga is married, has 3 children, 2 grandchildren, 3 as yet unpublished book length manuscripts, bicycles & drinks wine but not at the same time. He is also a founding member of Against the Tide: Poets for Peace. Given America's global hegemonic tendencies, his anti-war efforts might go on for a while.

More of Angelo's work may be found at Poetz 2000 and Poetz 2002.