Wordman of Alcatraz

In my travels I stopped
In a town to gas up and
Buy a few supplies
Immediately I noticed a
Strange behavior
All the people moved
Around with their arm
Extended as if to
Keep other people an
Arm’s length away from
Them…..they glared at
Each other and what
They did say to each other
Were accusations,
Bickering in general
Love wilted and died
In this environment
I threw my supplies in
My car and got out of
There

You have all you need
but you always want more
quit looking at everything you do not have
and look at everything you do have

Or rather, floating, I saw
The past and future simultaneously
As the cataclysmic explosion
Took place as now and what will be
Formed a white hot sphere of
Present up ending all guesses
Of what might be coming

One day a I got up and
Something told me to Hop
On a train and get out of
Town
It was a tanker car with struts
You could sit on
Apparently, other hoboes had the
Same idea and were running for
The trains as they began to pull out
It was quite a rush of men sitting
On the struts. I finally took the time
To look at who was sitting next to
Me as we slowly rumbled out of
Town. It was either Brad Pitt or a double.

I want to tell you
of all the times that
flaming bolts of love
struck me through
the heart. I lived
and remembered everything.

Being a teenager from Southern
Indiana and a fan of
Kurt Vonnegut
I somehow obtained some New York City
Phone numbers
Sure enough, there was his name,and
A number.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling,
I called the number and asked,
Is this Kurt Vonnegut?
He said yes, suddenly I was
Tongue tied and hung up.