Cacti

I am 29 sitting
On an old high stool
Tapping out a cacti pattern
On a leather belt at the Leather
Bench near the Drag and
24th Street chatting with one
Of the two Franks who work
The shop as the owner has
Gone missing a year on
A buying trip for silver
Trinkets far south of
The Rio Grande.
It is Austin, wild
And kinky in
1975, and I
Teach at
The
Night
Extension
Division of the
University of Texas,
Also known as
Treemendous
University after
A Regent chopped
Down trees around campus
In order to build a brick wall in
Hopes of controlling access
And egress to UT in the
Face of radical types
Among students
Who elected
Lassie as
Student
President
One year,
Then next year
A fake candidate
Whose motto
Was, “When
My
Opponent
Says issue, I
Say gesundheit,”
All to show the whole
Student government thing
Was only a frat/sorority
Popularity contest
And not for the
Benefit of the
Students.
My cacti
Pattern
Is on a
Brick
Wall.