R.I.P. Mike O'Neill

Crossing the Bridge
By Michael Baker

For Mike O’Neill, dead in July, 2006

I too have thought of jumping.
The cooling breezes, the lack
Of taxmen, the subtle shifts in sound.
I thought better of it when I took stock:
Three thousand in the bank, my friend
Jim Bob near Cannes, fifty Dylan
Bootlegs, the complete works
Of Milton and Dante. Alas, piety
And romance languages remain alien.

Better, I think, with a gun: the impact
That cleaves and cleaves, part hole,
Part new mass: too smart for new beginnings,
You now can concentrate on endings: mermaid fucking,
Endless tuna dinners, free kelp shampoo.

Each day the tennis ball comes back, and
Someone with slippers walks above us. Our boss
Is fired. The apartment becomes rent controlled.
Oriental babies shine in the moonlight.
Yards of unknitted yarn, however, gather dust
In our dark closets. You thirsted vainly for fame:
Pulitzer Prizes, sailing, opening for the Ramones—
But the viscosity of pain prefers rejection.

You had no one to turn to. Your wife
Switched to chardonnay and good friends asked
What your name was. The disproportionate climate
Was no help either, as the humidity of Florida
Became a steady intruder, like a newborn.
Tomorrow--we pray--will never come.

Tampa’s bridges are firm, steely, and straight.
Nearby a woman waved, a crooked finger
Beckoning you. Oh, I was wrong: it was really
The heat from the Everglades torching everything
And everyone not living underground. Thank
God, the water around you will never evaporate,
Allowing your luminosity to become re-animating
As your brown curls rise upwards,
Like snagged, sleepless godheads.



**************

Memorial Services For Mike O'Neill

Friday, July 28th @ the New World Brewery - Tampa FL.
8:00pm $5.00 suggested donation.

Slide show, live music, spoken word, etc..

Bands Include:
Flat Stanley, The 39 Steps, Diviners, Rancid Polecats, The Four Shames, and others...