9.1 More or Less Famous

by Eric Chaet

Everybody I read or hear about
is more famous than I am
the rest of the people
I never read or hear about
like birds just before I’m suddenly aware of them
& after they’ve made themselves scarce
or just before the onset of hunger or old age
or winter or old age starting
while you’re too busy to notice
til you feel a profound chill & suddenly sober
or the U.S.A., only nation I’ve ever known
which I’ve tried to salvage all my life
when it’s become as Rome or Babylon.