On Talk of the Nation the hour is devoted to finding happiness through employment. Americans, we are Puritans. We might as well still be wearing those black dresses and jackets with the cute tights and bonnets to boot.

No one ever has a special called "Finding happiness through unemployment." As a poet and a storyteller this would sum up my history since graduation from college. If you don't just haveto have money and everything you want write when you want to, finding fulfillment ceases to be a question. Having won a fulfilling life you start to ask questions like, "Where can I get enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes?" "Can I get a part time job that is extremely part time?"

What ever happened to "patrons"?

Is there any way I could live as a kept man, and still keep my integrity?

Does integrity really pay the bills?

How much do I care about what pays the bills...?