JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

When you are famous

you can write about anything

and people will read what you have written

nod and smile

even if they don’t understand

or if there is nothing to understand

 

You can ask questions like

what hangs on a wall, is red and whistles?

or why is the Messiah delaying his visit?

and they will laugh and say

good old Yehudah, that’s Nachman or Natan

 

They will even translate you

into Russian or Chinese

and discuss which version is closer

to what you really meant

 

Even if you yourself have not

yet deciphered what you meant

 

When you are famous

you can even be silent

and people will discuss the nature

of your silence; you can stand on your head

like Ben Gurion and they will study the imprint

your baldness made on the ground

interpret your headprint

 

Only your children will not appreciate you

for them you are a naked king

who has abdicated and left them

a pile of clothes that no longer fit

the father that you used to be