for Peter Lamborn Wilson
a hard person to know
obstinate entitled
full of himself
he knows Everything
Brilliant
generous without mentioning it
brushes off Thanks with a change of subject
he’s forgotten more than most
will ever know
sneaky sense of humor
sometimes one won’t even realize
they’ve Heard a joke
let alone get it
food issues
Everything Must Be Just So
combinations of foods he “can’t have”
oddly juxtaposed with Junk Food
(only Upscale junk food Imported
labels written in foreign languages)
“Get me a haggis!” he says, Insists
though it has to be ordered from god knows where
arrives encased in Styrofoam & ice
and now to prepare it - “How?”
“I don’t know! I’ve never Had it before!”
& ducks
ducklings Must be from Long Island
there’s only One duck farm on LI now
but they’re no longer tender like they used to be
disappointment ensues
“Contact that Amish farm somewhere in PA
I think their name’s Miller; just google it “
he Refuses to have a computer or to use email
that’s My job or Raymond’s
he can Never remember the doctor’s instructions
says when the doc starts talking
there’s a buzzing sound in his head
What??
so I have to go into the exam room with him
be his ears there
the doctors & nurses somehow immune
to his instructions it falls on me to figure out
how to achieve what the doctor ordered
sometimes he just Won’t
he just Won’t to his own detriment
but he goes on
he goes on seems like Forever
as younger healthier people than he
go down to dust
I can Still hardly remember he’s gone
his presence in My life in Andy’s in Raymond’s
seems unquenchable
he still conducts Teachings and Interviews
still spends Hours & Days on the phone
with his few or only intellectual peers
speaking of esoteric subjects
at the Pinnacle of Knowledge
the tip or the peak of the mountain
that no one else has managed to hike to
his personal Everest
Lines of elders & youngers striving
to reach that peak
gasping for breath but still climbing
to sit at his feet for as long as they can
All this Time
I Know he must depart sometime
but was Sure he’d outlive Me
just as stubborn as could be
he’d Never succumb to the Universe’s orders
but eventually he did
in private
in silence
alone in his home and Everyone Shocked
How Can This Be?
but he did and we are the poorer
whenever I cook with his utensils
or turn on the lamp from his bedroom
whenever we drive down the road
passing ridiculous billboards
his commentary his persona again Living
I expect to see his first entry
into the Calendar of Radical Honor
the Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints
his place in that heavenly hierarchy assured
by the youth still gathered at his feet
Listening
