Though laity inspires Jeff to talk about chicken wings at Thursday night coffee houses,
 Though spiderwebs rise in indignation at the absurdity of being,
 Though jellyfish fill my nostrils in despair as I envision Woody on stage,
 Though none of it really matters much,
 Though giant spiders crawl up my armpits begging for air,
 Though the air is filled with dancing octopuses,
 Though the scent of her perfume drives me crazy,
 Though I don’t like to shave,
 Though razorblades are available to all,
 Though we all wish to make this a better society,
 Though Zak keeps yelling “revolution!” and “get radical!” and gets a steady job
              at the bookstore and a haircut,
 Though radicals are no different from reactionaries,
 Though we all say silly things to each other,
 Though little of it makes sense,
 Though “We are the world, we are the children” sounds great on MTV,
 Though yelling “Peace!” doesn’t make us peaceful,
 Though sandinistas and contras are dancing polka to the radioactive beat of Chernobyl,
 Though Reagan is smiling at black people, while breakdancing,
 Though there is something wrong with the United States of America,
 Though there is something wrong with the Soviet Union,
 Though religion and rationalism have failed,
 Though Nietzsche went crazy,
 Though I still have to get a job to make a living,
 Though I still live off my parents,
 Though I can’t be a college student for the rest of my life,
 Though I’m in love with hundred women and they don’t know it,
 Though lunacy precedes democracy and alcoholism precedes communism,
 Though we all want to get down and boogie,
 Though I still get hemorrhoids and constipation from worrying about the future,
 Though I’m madly in love with Debbie,
 Though I’ve broken up with my friend Lionel,
 Though Allen gets on my nerves but I still put up with him,
 Though I’ve never had a personal relationship with Jesus,
 Though born-again Christians insist that they have,
 Though Allen Ginsberg is good-looking even if he is bald,
 Though I still like to write romantic poetry to beautiful women,
 Though Folio doesn’t think much of my work,
 Though Christos insists on having a solution to the world’s problems but can’t
              put his finger on it,
 Though he misses Greece and I miss Russia,
 Though Lionel wants to be a yuppie,
 Though Suman is a yuppie already,
 Though Rodney plays a mean guitar and lives in a dream world with an older woman
            with kids and a jealous ex-husband,
 Though he is cocky, domineering, and arrogant, and likes to brag,
 Though Beth is kind of big but I still love her,
 Though we are all sensitive about our egos,
 Though we don’t always like everything we hear and that’s why we go to psychiatrists
             who charge us hundred bucks an hour,
 Though there is still hope for redemption,
 Though Debbie has beautiful blond hair but she is still worried about the way she looks,
 Though television brainwashes us,
 Though she has a thing about being neat and proper which drives me crazy,
 Though I still love her,
 Though I have no car, no money, no job, and she lives in Darien,
 Though life is just an absurd accident,
 Though I consult the I Ching almost every day and I’m not even Chinese,
 Though I believe in Chinese and Western zodiac,
 Though we are all lonely and need each other, regardless of our zodiac signs,
 Though I’m still a virgin and tired of masturbating alone in my room,
        when no one is bothering me,
 Though I think a lot about sex,
 Though I wish I could write a play with Ed,
 Though we are both very individualistic,
 Though I see mystical visions when I open my refrigerator,
 Though this poem is too personal,
 Though CIA, FBI and KGB are all after us,
 Though the Big Brother is watching me,
 Though I like to listen to Helter Skelter and Revolution by the Beatles,
 Though I don’t like disco and I’m not too crazy about punk rock,
 Though I still haven’t reached nirvana,
 Though I am a jealous and possessive egoist at times and don’t like to share
            the spotlight with anybody,
 Though, unlike Ginsberg, I’m not a homosexual,
 Though I don’t like John Wayne but like Clint Eastwood,
 Though I like to get moody and melancholy,
 Though politics don’t interest me but people do,
 Though the same people can also drive me crazy,
 Though love isn’t all that free,
 Though Leo Buscaglia makes nice speeches, nice books and nice tapes,
 Though I would like to meet Sant Darshan Singh,
 Though I don’t always say nice things,
 Though I don’t like being rude or vulgar,
 Though I wish I could write more romantic poems,
 Though it’s hard to be romantic without appearing like a salesman,
 Though I still like to be spiritual and take nature walks,
 Though I wish Beth and Debbie would see me more often,
 Though I don’t like psychology but take it anyway,
 Though none of it really matters because it’s only me and my problems,
 Though I still have ways to go to attain Buddha nature,
 Though I wish I could call someone up at this moment,
 Though I know that everyone’s "busy,"
 Though I wish I could give a hug to...
 Though it’s nothing important,

  It is still a world too precious to be blown up by a nuclear bomb.
 

                                                           June 8, 1986
                                                       --Alexander Shaumyan