August Franza
August Franza, novelist, poet, playwright and
world traveler, lives on the south shore of Long
Island with his wife, Amy. He is the author of The
Murder of Hitler as well as numerous novels, plays
and books of poetry. His literary archives are held
by the State University of New York at Stony
Brook, where he earned a Ph.D. in English in
1981.
3 Poems by Gus Franza
TO THE MAN WHO ALWAYS FALLS ASLEEP AT MY
POETRY READINGS

Slumped, you look dumped there, sluggard.
You are the same snoozing interloper, aren't you?
No woman has even been so uncomely overcome.

Why are you oppressing me, a poor poet,
a blameless declaimer, a word server,
a wit preserver, a manic writer,
a gloom brighter, a night lighter?
AUTUMN FALL

Anguish that nobody sees
only persons can feel
incessantly
casting herself from a window
a woman falls
leaving a note a stain a plea

she lived in the hamptons
drove in distraction
to the tall city
where she floated to 10
and went back quickly
AT LAST

If I were asked to talk on a talkshow
I would turn the tables and be mute

I would sit there stiff and let tears
stain my face

Ater making this scene
I would get a talking to

and I would never be invited on a talkshow
again
my friends would stop e-mailing me

and my wife would take me to a shrink
who would judge me cured