7. Love What You've Got

When old blocks close their doors,
throwing out onto the cold avenue
broke men who stumble crooked paths home
with notes in hand, but nothing to do with them.

I remember
the Roosevelt lot,
and those small town cops,
our inebriated dancing
out of time with the Four Tops,
and all else that should never be let out.

You have to love what you've got,
and get what you love.
Love what you've got!
What you have to do does not
hold any power over you.
It's not anything that can hold you.

Love what you've got, and get what you love.

The stain of little dives run into the ground
along a now quiet avenue:
old men slowly making their ways alone,
still singing notes, but never coming to.

I remember
in back alleys and parks,
the crowds that gathered,
public acts of indecency:
frontal male nudity, such dangerous things
to small people; we will never live it down.

You have to love what you've got
to get what you love.
Love what you've got!
What you have to do does not own you.
It’s not anything that can hold you.

Love what you've got,
and get what you love!