H.B. Ussach

LITERATI

Crowding Caesar's Caffe, over by City College,
Cliques talk at the tiny marble tables;
They sip latte and espresso,
Lips lined with ferment and foam;
By the window, the unwashed in jeans and tees
Hiss through wispy goatees: "Read Marx's Manifesto."
Back by the brick wall, clean ones in slacks and shirts
Say: "Read Burke's essay on government."
And back, way back, behind the potted palm,
Wiseguys in coats and hats stick up for Family:
"Read Gotti's court records."


H.B. reads "Literati":



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H.B. confesses: “I sit at tables mindin' my own business, I swear it, on my dear mother's grave, I can't help it if I overhear gossip and stuff. I got a way of rememberin' it, you know? Some people, they don't like it, but that’s the way I am. Take the other night for example..."


H.B. USSACH teaches critical writing, literature, technical communication, and public speaking at Roger Williams University (Rhode Island) and Bristol Community College (Massachusetts). He is a journalist, editor and published writer with a B.A. from Queens College/CUNY and an M.A. in print journalism from American University, Washington, D.C. Previous poems have appeared in Blueline, the literary review of SUNY-Potsdam; The Wall Street Journal; The New Bedfor Standard Times; and recited at BCC and Whaling City Review poetry readings.