The Night I Met Gregory Corso, or Go Pump Yourself by M.J. Tenerelli

The Night I Met Gregory Corso,

or Go Pump Yourself

 

I am early for Dinner

With the handsome misogynist lawyer

Who is much older than me and only

Likes me for my tits and

Age, but it’s 1987 so

I don’t know that yet.

To kill time, I cross over

Sixth Avenue to B. Dalton’s.

There, signing books,

Is poor Carl Solomon,

And heckling him,

In a long dirty coat and an open can of beer,

Is Gregory Corso.

I am star struck and trip

Over myself to grab a copy

Of Gasoline off the shelf.

“Mr. Corso, can you sign this for me?”

He puts an arm around me and asks,

“You looking for a boyfriend?”

Later I show the autograph

To the lawyer and his friends.

They don’t know

What I’m so excited about.

The lawyer tells the other couple

That he met me in a club

And puts his hand

on my thigh.

.

M.J. Tenerelli is a poet and a legal writer. She has worked as an editor of trade magazines and text books for the cosmetology, cosmetics and fragrance industries in New York City. She currently writes legal briefs for a Social Security Disability law firm and hosts a monthly poetry reading for the Northport Arts Coalition in Northport, NY. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies, including Cat’s Breath and Estrellas En El Fuego, both by Rogue Scholars Press. Her poems have been published in a number of print and electronic journals, including Poetry Bay; Alaska Quarterly Review; The Improper Hamptonian; Zuzu’s Petals; The Mom Egg; Blue Fifth Review; Poetry Kit; Poetry Super Highway; Big City Lit; American Muse and Parameter. She is a former editor of the art and literary magazine The Wormwood Press.