what is important
is the stars or moon or sun
or single naked bulb hanging in the living room to light the whole              
     apartment while the blues scratches its way through the speakers         
     to the trash and empty Gin bottles in the corner
and across the soiled curtains in the kitchen window above the             
     cockroach&coffee-cup sink

what is important
is being able to see
what i am doing or drinking or reading or painting in the portal the      
     french doors onto the balcony provide
looking out into a city i cant see for darkness
except streetlights, latenight reading lamps & television snowstorms

what is important
is being able to read
the poems on pages in books and notebooks strewn around the apartment 
     under old newspapers lying in disarray on the shelves
and in stacks on either side of the tattered green couch and between 
     the masses of cloth and stuffing that pass for cushions

what is important
is Gin
inbottles hiding around the apartment
behind piles of books on the top shelf
under the battered recliner
and inside the cupboards with newspaper lining
behind cans of black-eyed peas and pickled beets
saved for when that special girl comes over just for a cup of coffee 
     and you convince her to stay a little longer to listen to a new 
     jazz record

what is important
is jazz
to convince that special girl to stay for another record of lady day
who is glad to be unhappy
"unrequited love's a bore
              and man i got it pretty bad
                            but for someone you adore
                                        it's a pleasure to be sad"

what is important 
is sheets
that are covered with newspapers and books and ashtrays
on the bed that is so much more comfortable than that old ratty couch 
     or the beer-stained matted carpet
sheets that were changed just last month
if last month was may

what is important
is getting up
in the night and finding a drink and a smoke
and remembering 
why this girl is special
and how long it is til the next deadline
and when the rent is due