Bart Edelman
Winter 2023 | Poetry
Jolly Pete
Carries a tune in his pocket—
Music for any and all occasions.
Enjoys the ladies, every now and then,
When friends are a lost commodity.
Vows never to join a political party,
But leans a little bit left of center.
Loves to tell a good joke,
Even if it’s at his own expense.
Prays to a benevolent God each night,
Although he’s bedeviled by sleep.
Walks a rather crooked path,
Should the vodka sneak up on him.
Laughs until he’s blue in the face,
And shows no sign of embarrassment.
Owns seven different motor vehicles,
Yet has no desire to drive a single one.
Welcomes death as a gentle friend,
As long as there’s a piano in heaven.
Bart Edelman’s poetry collections include Crossing the Hackensack, Under Damaris’ Dress, The Alphabet of Love, The Gentle Man, The Last Mojito, The Geographer’s Wife, Whistling to Trick the Wind, and This Body Is Never at Rest: New and Selected Poems 1993 – 2023, forthcoming from Meadowlark Press. He has taught at Glendale College, where he edited Eclipse, a literary journal, and, most recently, in the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. His work has been widely anthologized in textbooks published by City Lights Books, Etruscan Press, Fountainhead Press, Harcourt Brace, Longman, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Simon & Schuster, Thomson/Heinle, the University of Iowa Press, Wadsworth, and others. He lives in Pasadena, California.