Alphabet Street by Randall Mann

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend June 6, 2016   Alphabet Street   Randall Mann

Prince Rogers Nelson, 1958–2016   “Adore” was my song Back in ’87— Cool beans, I liked to say, Desperately uncool. Except for you. Florida, a dirty hand Gesture; the state, pay dirt. Headphones on, I heard, In a word, you were sex, Just in time. Who was I Kidding? Then, as now, Love is too weak to define. Mostly I just ran, Not yet sixteen, Overreaching. Track star, Pretty uniform. Queer, of course. Adore. Rewind: my beloved teammates Sometimes called me Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or CTC, being neither black nor white. Until the end of time. Vanity would never do it for me. Would you? You were definite, the X in my fix. And now, You’re gone. The old, on repeat. The new Zeal: zero.            Copyright © 2016 Randall Mann. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “Prince’s death hit me hard. It brought me closer to his music, and to a confusing, beautiful time, at fifteen, when I played ‘Adore’ on repeat; the italicized lines are from the song. This poem is for my friends Sabina Piersol and Miguel Murphy, who love Prince so much.” —Randall Mann   Randall Mann is the author of Straight Razor (Persea Books, 2013). He lives in San Francisco. Poetry by Mann   Straight Razor (Persea Books, 2013) "A Book of Music" by Jack Spicer "Discrepancies Regarding My Mother’s Departure" by Rachel Eliza Griffiths "Chaplinesque" by Hart Crane Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038