Sneaky Pete
What’s happened to the poem as poem, Sneaky Pete?
What’s happened to the poem as poem?
It’s crossing the Pacific
In an underwater sky lab,
In a cute little butane box
ln a gizmo way down there.
And the shitty air smells pretty
To us old-time gringos,
But our loop-the-loop-the-loop biplane
Isn’t used to the tundra.
So push a little harder
Till the gizmo acts frisky
With multi-colored fissures
That widen as you walk.
Rush-hour joggers brush against me
Whispering of nightmarish accessories.
What’s happened to the poem as poem, Sneaky Pete?
What’s happened to the poem as poem?
It’s dangling from a black hole
In a Golden Oldie time warp,
In a fun little gunnysack
In a doodad way up here.
Yin. The cute die in summer.
Yang. Dark out and the curtain’s stuck.
There’s a Papa Doc sunset
On my “That’s All, Folks!” burnoose.
No touchee! Its naked loins
Turn young lungs puce.
Jes’ keep your lips on the siphon, hon.
I’m movin’ back to town.
Back where the poem as poem’s gone,
Back where the poem’s gone.
Back where the poem as poem’s gone.
Back where the poem’s gone.
Poems by Kenward Elmslie are used by permission of The Estate of Kenward Elmslie.