Poetry Report: Tribute to Lou Reed

Poetry
Written By Scott Poole

“And it occurs to me
that you would not hear Lou Reed”

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For Lou Reed (1942-2013), you got me through so many confusing times in my life. Thank you. It always felt like you were there in person.

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I'm Waiting For The Man


I stand at the gas station
and Stevie Nicks
is singing
to the gas pumps
just this edge
of the darkness.

I don't know if
the gas pumps want
to talk to Stevie
but she keep letting them
know it's okay if they do.

I imagine them each
blowing up
one by one
to escape her pleading.

And it occurs to me
that you would not hear Lou Reed
at a gas station
unless Lou Reed was here
with his guitar
actually singing to the pumps.

That's the difference in my head,
Lou shows up in person,
Stevie is pumped in everywhere
like a gas.

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Scott Poole

Scott Poole is the House Poet for Live Wire! Radio, a weekly public radio show taped in Portland, OR and broadcast throughout the country. He is the author of three books of poetry, The Cheap Seats, Hiding from Salesmen and, most recently, The Sliding Glass Door (2011, Colonus Publishing). He was also the founding director of Wordstock, the annual Portland, OR book festival.

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