Larry Carradini
ATTENTION

Ghosts and mirrors
speak to me,
whenever I fail
to pay.

I hover with witches
and the
occasional vampire.
Nice company.

They keep me honest.
Well, they try.
I am beyond hope.

But, I keep trying.
I can feel the dirt.
Almost, see the light.

 

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LAWRENCE 'LARRY' CARRADINI, 1953-2014 was a prolific poet, essayist, arts critic and scientist, who was born in Astoria, New York, and made Lowell, Mass. his home. He finished his doctorate in vertebrate zoology two years before his death. President of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!, a festival honoring Lowell native son Jack Kerouac, he was married to poet, journalist and dancer, Meg Smith. This poem was one of several 'napkin poems' she found among Larry's papers. "He would work out poems on napkins, or pieces of paper, or in notebooks when he was out on errands, or travelling," she writes. "There was no date but judging from context, I think it is sometime around 1998-2000."