11
Adirondacks
(Catskills)
When people say they’re going to
or just returned from a trip to the Catskills
I nod and say "That sounds nice,"
but I have no idea what Catskills means.
Same with the Adirondacks.
Catskills is a beach maybe I think.
Adirondacks has those chairs
like the wooden ones in my backyard
that Bill gave me.
Maybe it's mountains.
The chairs are broken
but the squirrel likes to sit on them.
Sometimes I sit beside them
and stare at the sun shining on them
and imagine I'm somewhere else
sitting outside at happy hour
watching the sunset.
Maybe it's the Catskills.
lajitas
white limestone patio
reflecting the moon
directly overhead
a full Saturn moon ring
the only time
I’ve had to wear
sunglasses
at night
the rio grande
meandering below
only but a creek here
shimmers
halfway across the creek
and you're in mexico
a lone noisy cow grazes
a stone's throw away
across the river
a mexican cow
I have seen the morning
burning golden on the
mountain in the skies
All those words existed
for thousands of years
and only Kristofferson
put them all together
said Larry Gatlin
All the gold
in California
is in a bank
in the middle
of Beverly Hills
in somebody else's
name
panthr
(big fish)
Ext: a green grassy lawn with a small stage covered by a white tent. People sitting on blankets and people dancing. The best rock band is playing. Everyone has a drink in their hand and is smiling. Those outdoor lights that sorta look like Christmas lights but have bigger bulbs make everything look like magic, like that town in Big Fish. It's a perfect spring evening. The air is cool when the sun goes down. You might be a little chilly if you didn't bring your favorite hoodie sweatshirt and are just standing around.
"If I'm at a show and having a good time," she said,
"but don't know whether it's actually good or not -
if I see you there too, then I know that it's real."
"Put your number in here," she said, and he took it
and typed it in and handed it back to her.
"Did you put your last name as panther?" she said, as she looked at her phone.
"I wanted to make sure you remembered," he answered.
"What's your last name?" he asked.
The light from his screen glowed in the night.
"I'll spell it for you,” she said, “so you get it right."
P
A
N
T
The boy grinned and she paused.
"Don't get presumptuous and think you know what the last letters are," she said.
H
E
R
He typed it before she said em.
Everyone is on their feet and dancing.
Everyone is smiling.
Every single person.
It's a little chilly now that it's dark,
a perfect spring evening.
Those lights that are always
strung up outside in summer
that look like Christmas lights
but with those bigger bulbs
Always make things look like magic,
like that little town in Big Fish
that Loudon Wainwright was the mayor of.
Steve Buscemi was the friendly town weirdo.
The witch lived outside of town in the swamp
and played the piano.
If Fisherman's Blues
by the Waterboys
is the last song of the night
and you don't scream out the high pitched
'Woo hoo hoo' parts at the top of your lungs
are you even alive?
Light in my head
You in my arms
(Woo hoo hoo)
her arms on the windowsill
staring out across the field
"Mister Baby Forever!" she yelled
But nobody ever really knew what it meant.
Mister baby forever
For a minute it meant something.
They pumped their fists and screamed it
from the mountain tops.
For a moment it meant everything.
She shouted it across the world
for her best friend to hear at sunset.
This will be our year
Mister baby forever
She used to sit by her bedroom window
and feel the night air on her face and hands.
The cord on the kitchen phone was tan
and could stretch all the way out the back door.
electrical
I used to have a system
like people do with bananas
a little green
versus overly ripe
I think it was the yellow ones
that had the most juice.
My dad had a metal rod
shaped like an upside down L.
The handle was wrapped
around and around
in black tape.
It was electrified.
In the backyard, he'd put it in the ground
and it'd make earthworms appear.
We'd shine our flashlights to see em
and we'd scoop em up into buckets
that we made out of empty milk jugs.
The smell of honeysuckle on the fence
The still quiet of the summer night
Standing barefoot in the grass
you could feel the currents
tingling your feet.
Stay strong
💥⚡🦊