Where Have All the Payphones Gone?

The Wizard of Oz wasn't a wizard at 
all, but a little guy named Oscar who
had a glass eye & a knack for the short 
con
         knocked around Venice Beach w/a hunch-
back named Vera
                                 operating in & around a phone 
booth outside the Fox Theater on Lincoln
Blvd circa 1971 or so

A few years later . . . no where to be found

yr guess as good as mine

I moved north to Half Moon Bay in '76
the phone booth went away two decades after that

The Fox Theater was converted to an
indoor swap meet which
is pretty much what it was
any night when the lights went down
& the screen lit up
& a drowsy numbness was dealt out in dime bags

SOMEWHERE IN THE STREAM by Duncan McNaughton

THE KISS
What else is enough to make a poem
in this day and age?
                                      In this day and age,
it's dark, a poem needs a small flashlight
and a cordless power drill with which to
remove the screws.
                                    It needs to be a kiss
that stings.

- From SOMEWHERE IN THE STREAM
a new book of poems by Duncan McNaughton
available now from Blue Press.