The First Winter Snow

1935 –

1984

Oh, pretty girl, you have trapped 
yourself in the wrong body.  Twenty 
extra pounds hang like a lumpy 
tapestry on your perfect mammal nature.

Three months ago you were like a 
deer staring at the first winter snow.

Now Aphrodite thumbs her nose at you 
and tells stories behind your back.

From The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster by Richard Brautigan, published by Houghton Mifflin. Copyright © 1989 by Richard Brautigan. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.

Your Catfish Friend

If I were to live my life
in catfish forms
in scaffolds of skin and whiskers
at the bottom of a pond
and you were to come by
one evening
when the moon was shining
down into my dark home
and stand there at the edge

Richard Brautigan

1989

Private Eye Lettuce

Three crates of Private Eye Lettuce, 
the name and drawing of a detective 
with magnifying glass on the sides 
of the crates of lettuce, 
form a great cross in man's imagination 
and his desire to name 
the objects of this world. 
I think I'll call this place Golgotha 
and have some salad for dinner.

Richard Brautigan

1989

Poems

The First Winter Snow

More by this poet

Haiku Ambulance

Your Catfish Friend

Private Eye Lettuce

Poems

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The First Winter Snow

More by this poet

Haiku Ambulance

Your Catfish Friend

Private Eye Lettuce

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