
peace out
string me along for a song
I’m your twelve trick pony
whisper like a horse shines
and taste that smell like there’s no tomorrow
you know what I mean
and if you say you don’t you’re lying
so yeah
either way
shine on
or wish your paw
wasn’t some lame ass dog
digging holes to make points
it’s time to pack my bags
and shape something new
Brenda Warren 2012
***
dark red string
“paw’s up for whispering smells!”
every paw lifts, as weasels glance round the room
remembering that dark red string
that wound its way through last year’s rank and file
it emanated this smell
this smell that carried a peculiar taste
and whispered through packs of weasels
lined up with nose points almost touching
(shaping colons to punctuate connections)
weasels became that string winding through them
evoking wishes for flesh
warm and quivering
something they could hold down with their little weasel paws
while their sharp weasel teeth shredded flesh in a frenzied feast
they hunted later that night
tonight as every weasel paw rises
warnings of humans and reminders of last year’s weasels
culled for “pets”
leads to chitter among the ranks
until a dark red string whispers through,
quieting weasel stories
lined up and touching
weasel noses follow its progress
and the hunt begins
this year, sixteen weasels
are lost to the hunt
Brenda Warren 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Process Notes for “peace out”:
I played with the words late Monday night after receiving them as a contribution from Richard Walker to The Sunday Whirl. This piece came quickly. I read it aloud and edited slightly. The meaning is unclear but each line seemed to feed the next line, and it feels like it means something. The title was initially the last line, but I moved it. The ending seems more optimistic to me the way it is now.
I wish I could read it aloud to you, to me the voice drives this piece. It’s fun to read aloud, and the meaning of paw changes. I like that about it.
“dark red string” notes: The one wordle word I didn’t use in any form in the body of the poem, “trick,” could be a synonym for the dark red string.
