Drinking an Orange Julius While Listening to Pink Floyd
by Bill Yarrow
I was strapped for cache
so I called my friend Paolo
who wears Ecuadorian gray
and prefers Celine to Celan
and asked him how to juggle
all the crap life was throwing
my way, and he said, “Boyo,
take your chessboard to Andorra
and mate someone” but, having
already done that, he was of no help
at all, so I grabbed one of my shelf
improvement books and read: “I
saw the best minds of my generation
enter law school” and realized that
all the works I thought I knew had
been defaced by assassins. I asked
the Wife of Bathroom for a hit of
Releeve. She handed me the anodyne
and went off to make chicken
a la Siegfried. I drifted into dream:
so I called my friend Paolo
who wears Ecuadorian gray
and prefers Celine to Celan
and asked him how to juggle
all the crap life was throwing
my way, and he said, “Boyo,
take your chessboard to Andorra
and mate someone” but, having
already done that, he was of no help
at all, so I grabbed one of my shelf
improvement books and read: “I
saw the best minds of my generation
enter law school” and realized that
all the works I thought I knew had
been defaced by assassins. I asked
the Wife of Bathroom for a hit of
Releeve. She handed me the anodyne
and went off to make chicken
a la Siegfried. I drifted into dream:
A man in a turquoise slicker sat on
a skittish horse wearing an iron hat.
He was pointing at a group of children
in the housewares section of Wal-Mart
playing catch with the throw rugs. A
tsunami was rolling through the aisles.
The man bellowed, “Watch out!” but he
couldn't force their attention. The waters
poured over all the products of mankind.
Death came as a scythe of relief.
He was pointing at a group of children
in the housewares section of Wal-Mart
playing catch with the throw rugs. A
tsunami was rolling through the aisles.
The man bellowed, “Watch out!” but he
couldn't force their attention. The waters
poured over all the products of mankind.
Death came as a scythe of relief.
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Author's Note
This poem appeared as part of a 2010 e-book entitled "Wound Jewelry" published by new aesthetic.
The poem appears in Pointed Sentences (BlazeVOX, 2012).
Video: http://youtu.be/CNBjQEu7IPU
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Good imagery, Bill, and play with words.
Yes, good imagery and word play, beginning with the title. I enjoyed reading it very much.
Cool title, love "strapped for cache" and "I saw the best minds of my generation enter law school" (ha!)
+
What they said! Well done, Bill!
Strapped for cache?
I can help.
First, let's bill all the lawyers.
a fine list of twists.
well played.
Love the images and the messages attached to this.
"The waters poured over all the products of mankind. Death came as a scythe of relief."
“Boyo, take your chessboard to Andorra and mate someone”
Fun piece.
yes to all of the above and my fave, The Wife of Bathroom. Thanks for not bogarting this joint, Bill, love it! *
Bill, I think this is brilliant - I think - but I only had time to read it once, and quite fast. I'll be back...
Good poem. Should it be "self improvement?"
Strapped for cache - brilliant. Wacky wonderful title (I love OJs and PF) and loads o' fun poem. Peace... *
"Should it be 'self improvement?'"
It should if it didn't want to be a pun, but it does.
Lots of the weirder phrases/ideas in the poem are puns: Ecuadorian gray, chicken a la Siegfried, playing catch with the throw rugs, etc.
The "skittish horse wearing an iron hat" comes from Temple Grandin's life-changing book Animals in Translation.
Why am I explaining all this?
Thanks for asking, Matthew!
Very very very cool poem!
What a fun, oddball poem. I enjoyed every minute of it!
*
lovely - just right, what a pace, what a journey!
Very clever piece, Bill. Good juggle of words with a deeper meaning in some of the play. Loved it!
Fav
Very nicely done. Love the humor, and then the serious ending bringing it all home to roost.Nice, quick, brilliant.
"shelf improvement books"..."Wife of Bathroom" and the aforementioned cache. Love the playfulness in this! *
Every line's a winner. And the bit about law school is so true!
fun fun fun!
from the title to the last image (but I love the next-to-last image to: those waters pouring over all the products of mankind).
*
typed too fast, should have been:
but I love the next-to-last image TOO
But this way, I get to say it again: *
:)
I love how this spirals into weirdness and chaos. Those last few lines are both a witness and testament to our ills: "The waters poured over all the products of mankind.Death came as a scythe of relief." Powerful. *
"A tsunami was rolling through the aisles."
Ha. Do we know each other? Oh, wait, you're just tapping universals. Well.