The Question

By: David Lerner

The most important question facing
poets of today is
how well would you do 
under torture

the most important question facing
poets today is can you tell 
shit from ice cream
one moment at a time

can we change life or only
name its parts

what's the longest suicide note in history
and who read it

how many shovels does it take to 
dig up the bloody heart of the world
and start it ticking

the most important question for 
the poets of today is

is God just another
comic book hero with a fancy resume
or something we can meet in person
if we have enough nerve

are our poems infectious with beauty
punishing as they glow
shaking the walls of the city

or clumsy paper airplanes
sailing through the air
as it sickens and dies

The most important question facing
poets today is

when morning cracks hard
and the gray light stutters through
the window
and you are afraid

when you move effortlessly from
last night's nightmare to
this morning's headlines
can you tell, can you see, 
have you heart, 
will we

You can find David Lerner’s hard-hitting published works at Zeitgeist Press.

“Lerner was a broken-down saint if there ever was one. He was an eloquent screamer, a soft-spoken rageoholic, a madman with a great manuscript. His poetry will always be a reminder of a time when poetry in the Mission was spontaneous, magical, and more than a little bit dangerous.” — Bucky Sinister, San Francisco Bay Guardian