A Following

The phone rang at 1:30 a.m. and it was a man from Denver: "Chinaski, you got a following in Denver..." "yeah?" "yeah, I got a magazine and I want some poems from you..." "FUCK YOU, CHINASKI!" I heard a voice in the background... "I see you have a friend," I said. "yeah," he answered, "now, I want six poems..." "CHINASKI SUCKS! CHINASKI'S A PRICK!" I heard the other voice. "you fellows been drinking?" I asked. "so what?" he answered. "you drink." "that's true..." "CHINASKI'S AN ASSHOLE!" Then the editor of the magazine gave me the address and I copied it down on the back of an envelope. "send us some poems now..." "I'll see what I can do..." "CHINASKI WRITES SHIT!" "goodbye," I said. "goodbye," said the editor. I hung up. there are certainly any number of lonely people without much to do with their nights.