Monday, June 30, 2014

Stay, Go and Fetch

 by Les Barker

I'd always wanted a dog
So one day I took in a stray.
He didn't want to leave me
And so I called him Stay.

I knew it was a mistake
The first time I told stay to go
"Go, Stay," and I pointed.
Did Stay go? No.

"Go, Stay," I said; and he started;
He was going...then he was not;
He looked at me, sad and confused,
And his two big eyes said "What?"

I threw him a stick; I said "Fetch, Stay."
He started and stopped all in one;
I never got round to "Come here, Stay."
Stay couldn't come; he'd not gone.

He wanted to please, but he couldn't;
I spoke, but he just didn't know;
So I got him a spaniel for company.
I shouldn't have called it Go.

I said "Stay, Go," and Go'd stay a second
Then both Stay and Go were away
And I had to shout "Come here, Stay and Go."
They were coming and going all day.

I said "Stay, Go and Stay." I tried "Go, Stay and Go."
Nothing seemed to get through;
It's not that they were both saying "No."
They were both saying "Does he mean you?"

It's all very well in the park,
But what if we're stood at the kerb?
Two lost souls in the dark;
Which bloody one is the verb?

I've got them a new friend now;
I found him, a poor starving wretch;
I hope they'll be happy together;
Go and Stay; come and meet Fetch.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Irish Weather

by Tess Gallagher

Rain squalls cast sideways,
the droplets visible
like wheat grains
sprayed from the combine.
As suddenly, sunshine.
If a person behaved
this way we'd call them
neurotic. Given weather, we gust
and plunder with only
small comment: it's
raining; sun's out.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

cats and you and me

by Charles Bukowski

the Egyptians loved the cat
were often entombed with it
instead of with the child
and never with the dog.

and now
here
good people with
the souls of cats
are very few

yet here and now many
fine cats
with great style
lounge about
in the alleys of
the universe.

about
our argument tonight
whatever it was
about
and
no matter
how unhappy
it made us
feel

remember that
there is a
cat
somewhere
adjusting to the
space of itself
with a calm
and delightful
ease.

in other words
magic persists with
or without us
no matter how
we may try to
destroy it

and I would
destroy the last chance for
myself
that this might always
continue.