Suzy Zeus Gets Organized Read Free Page A

dreams of debtors' prison,
    breaking rocks in ball and chain.
    Suzy clenches, hears her mallet's
    rhythmic pounding in her brain.
    Suzy talked with Visa's cops, who
    said she'd more than shot her wad.
    Bit the bullet, called up Louie's,
    got Joanne, and talked to Todd.
    Suzy thought, The eight P.M. shift?
    This can't be the will of God.
    Maybe God's gone on vacation,
    leaving everything to Fate.
    What if everything is ruined?
    What if He gets back too late?
    Maybe she should move to Flushing.
    Maybe she should move upstate.
    Suzy needs a kid to kidnap.
    Suzy needs a bank to rob.
    Suzy needs a wealthy lover.
    Suzy needs a high-paid job.
    Let her win the lottery or
    maybe just let loose and sob.
    Suzy doesn't have a minute.
    Suzy doesn't have a cent.
    She would move if only someone
    knew where Bitterino went.
    Mrs. Tragas shakes her head: the
    girlie didn't pay her rent.
    SUZY TRIES THE TAO
     
    Suzy's going slowly gaga,
    wearing beads and making lists,
    reads haiku, epistle, saga,
    raises up her eyes and fists,
    whispering a secret prayer
    in case a god of God exists.
    Suzy's going to shun samsara.
    Suzy's going to give up sex.
    Suzy's going to wear a sheet and
    dance on Forty-third and Lex.
    Suzy likes those guys with crosses
    tattooed right around their necks.
    Tsuzy wants to get enlightened.
    Tsuzy wants to pierce her lip.
    Tsuzy wants a new Taon jacket—
    something holy, something hip.
    Jazzed, Lao-Tsuzy meditates to
    help her brain waves get a grip.
    "Who can sit and watch the silt drift
    down until the pond is clear?"
    Suzy, groping, tries to downshift,
    cannot find a lower gear.
    Maybe she should read the paper.
    Maybe she should buy some beer.
    Suzy wants to be a mystic.
    Suzy wants to read your palm.
    Even though it's atavistic,
    she's anointing folks with balm.
    Suzy feels a bit ballistic
    even when she's feeling calm.
    Suzy walks, in Brooklyn, back and
    forth along the Promenade.
    On her windy roof she sings. The
    neighbors act like Suzy's odd.
    Suzy's whole and Suzy's wholesome.
    Suzy Zeus is helping God.
    Suzy's brain is spinning, sparking,
    making meaning, waging war.
    Tastes are mad explosions. Smells have
    never smelled like this before.
    Suzy's hot
    then cold
    then hotter.
    Please don't seat her near the door.
    Max-a-million Zeus-Rodriguez.
    Lucy. Desi. Ricky. Kate.
    No one's writing. No one's phoning.
    Why is there no ready mate?
    Suzy's full of grace, and blessèd.
    It's so hard to knit and wait.
    Suzy's actions act like arrows.
    Suzy's speech is like a spear.
    Suzy Zeus has saddened sadness.
    Suzy Zeus has frightened fear.
    Suzy's never been so happy.
    Suzy's never been so clear.
    Suzy's howling at her litter,
    separating white from black,
    separating good from evil,
    separating from the pack.
    Suzy Zeus is right on target.
    Suzy Zeus is right on track.
    SUZY TRIES THE DOW
     
    Suzy Zeus has plucked her eyebrows.
    Suzy Zeus has picked a goal.
    Suzy has a new persona.
    Sees life steady, sees it whole.
    Suzy's going to get connected.
    Suzy's going to get control.
    Suzy smiles a ten-buck smile and
    runs her finger down the list.
    "Mr. Milken's here," she says, then,
    "Have a seat." She flicks her wrist.
    Finally, she's economic.
    Suzy, Temp Receptionist.
    Suzy wants a leather briefcase.
    Suzy wants a silk-back vest.
    Suzy doesn't need credentials,
    but she'll get them, if it's best.
    Suzy wants a window office.
    Suzy wants her trousers pressed.
    Suzy wants to buy a co-op,
    put big art up on the wall.
    Suzy wants to give some parties.
    Suzy wants to give her all.
    Suzy wants to be consulted.
    Suzy's feeling ten feet tall.
    Suzy wants a foreign nanny.
    Suzy wants a private school.
    Where they teach good manners and big
    business and the golden rule.
    Suzy wants a tennis camp, with
    horses and a swimming pool.
    All alone in blackness, Suzy
    risks a little vertigo.
    Pressed against the glass, she hears the
    traffic moving far below.
    Silent ballerina in the
    office of the CEO.
    SUZY FOLLOWS HER FEET
     
    Money