Select Poems From

So Furry the Jungle

Published by
The Contemporary Arts Foundation
1977

A LIKELY STORY

James by an open window
sitting
Harlan from the street
watches
minding everybody’s business
that’s his business
busybody
keyhole jerk
it’s his nature
James fit to be tied
waiting
a lone approach
Vicki with an army
of small school children
out behind her
scarf blowing loose
she is in no hurry
James up against the stove
beside himself
water boiling
hot cocoa and crackers or
tea and biscuits or
coffee and peanuts
decisions
closer
crossing the street
Vicki
struck by a red station wagon
sails into the air
James having seen her
about to cross
jumps eighteen stories for joy
and lands beside her in a heap
on top of Harlan

ON 66 in 77

from this road
the world is a little town
where Blue Sky is the name
of a motel
and Liberty is the name
of a bank
where a Wild Horse is not
just a thing of the past
but the name of a creek that runs
parallel to Dry Creek
up the road
from Broken Dance
where we stay
over a narrow bridge
to Yesteryears
where we lunch
on a binge
at the Stardust
where we drink
up the limit
as fast as we can
because anyone can see
it’s all downhill from here

INTENTIONAL FORTITUDE

The courage of a gunfighter
Who was married to the daughter of a King
While vacationing in Mexico
Whereupon he retired
To her white adobe in the mountains
And was soon thereafter run over
By the town motorcycle
By mistake

LONGED I WALKED

longed i walked
truly betort in thought
bequenched what i shalked
puddled what i sought

oker, oker, and over
i spandled my befuddled head
screarching for sompherdel
juzbled bewhat i dread

befuddle my head in wonder
canst a thought be there
befonder inquiddle i
bewhat I thought be out there

longed i walked
no longer like before
for bewhat i then shalked
doesn’t matter anymore

SURFING

Look at me
I’m riding the biggest wave of my life
I’ve never felt any better
I’m on top of the world
Yup, I’m over the moon
I command more attention
I notice the trend
I speak with an accent
I manage to mend
I got me more money
I can ever hope to spend
I got a kid who looks just like me
I been on a honeymoon weekend
I met me more people
I made me more friends
Yup, I’m over the moon
I’m the best I’ve ever been
I can’t put a foot wrong
Something bound to give in
Something bound to break loose
Somehow this ride gonna end
Sometime this wave gonna wash up
Sometime I’ll remember when
I was riding the biggest wave of my life
And how it didn’t scare me then

ENDLESS

the way it looks

is really a circle