New poem: THE COSBY POEM

ONE
after the topsoil of alleged drugs,
alleged rape of unconscious victims,
and the awakenings and discoveries,
we now dig into the next level
of celebrity sediment:
talent and modeling agencies
supplying bodies to use-and-discard,
plus employees to run celebrity errands--
hold the great man's cigar
block the dressing room door
when "interviews" take place
find housing for mistresses
keep the great man's name
off the checks and money orders
excitement wears off
and the weariness of doing grubby chores
then the fear of being fired
by the no-longer-great man who once gave you
a personally signed photo
TWO
I HATE TO ASK THIS, BUT I HAVE TO!
SAY IT AIN'T SO, BILL!
repeated by nervous interviewers
on separate occasions
as Bill scowls and thunders:
SCUTTLE THIS, CUT THAT!
YOU SHOULD KNOW YOU'RE
NOT PRACTICING JOURNALISM!
DON'T MAKE ME CALL MY ATTORNEYS!
THREE
enjoyed the first BILL COSBY SHOW
with Bill as easygoing coach Chet Kincaid
as well as the first two or three years
of THE COSBY SHOW
before it grew smug and self-satisfied
liked to go to the Playboy Jazz Festival
when Cosby was the MC
and admired what he did for jazz
at the festival and on TV as well
fast-forward a few years
to when Ennis Cosby was murdered
and I gave money to the HELLO FRIEND charity
formed in his memory
cut to a few years later,
when Bill Cosby had his
maybe-or-maybe-not daughter
(by a woman who wasn't his wife Camille)
jailed for extortion
that was cold, I thought
even colder when Plutocrat Bill
started telling poor and middle-class people
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT
AND YOUR KIDS ARE
KNUCKLEHEADS TOO!
way too frigid for me--
and for Hannibal Buress too
FOUR
someday, I'll be tempted to watch Bill Cosby
in something he acted in three to four decades ago
or revisit an old stand-up routine on YouTube
and I'll try to compartmentalize
he could be a fine actor and funny storyteller
when he wasn't preoccupied
with grinding people's lives
into topsoil