I remember it all

A Life

Here’s the rock and roll memoir  

I’d like to read:

It was loud

I didn’t like Bill

our first drummer

or was he third?

The riffs, I stole  

the words, written

by a callow youth

torment me

to this day like

a swarm of

                                                wet bees

the body of

my obituary

written by interns

at Rolling Stone

lays waiting

                                                patiently

for a call

I don’t remember

(in no particular order)

where the name of

the band came from

the outcome

                                                of the lawsuits

what happened

                                                in Dallas

writing

                                                a song cycle about Madame Curie

rides  

                                                in ambulances, limos, helicopters
marriage to 
                                                Margaret Trudeau
punching

                                                Burton Cummings, and

if you say we played

Farm Aid twice, well, then

I guess you would know

I can’t piss standing up or

hear a word you’re saying and

my doctor says

we simply must

get a handle on

my liver before

we even begin

to think about

replacing

                                                          knees

                                                          hips

                                                          corneas

                                                          lungs, but

I’m booked to play

our first three albums

in their entirety

live in February

at the Beacon Theater

with the New York Philharmonic and

our original bassist

Ian somebody

with scheduled interviews

on Fresh Air and Imus and

a concert film

by Jim Jarmusch.