Some people post pictures of themselves on the internet
posing over the speckled carcass of a kudu
they’ve killed in Tanzania.
It’s usual to dig the uncocked rifle butt
into the ground and grip the spiral horns
like ski poles, for people love a virile huntsman with a viral smile.
Fathers and sons
bond by hunting. Husbands and wives bond by holding
opposite ends of a gun.
Hunting game, if you are gay, probably bores and horrifies you. Write this
down in your diary: What a sad, proud lion lying there in the dust
between the khaki musculature, jugular-struck, mane-pulled
like a passed-out frat boy
having his hair held back. What a miserable zebra with a hole in its throat.
What a wildebeest running
red from nostril and ear.
And, oh,
the cape buffalo crumpled next to a folding chair, a bottle of grey goose
under the fuzzy groin of the thorn acacia,
under the jackalberry tree, under the baobab, under
the jarrah tree, the candelabra
pulling all its shade back into itself.
No quarter given, no quarter sought. We are most ourselves
forgiving what we’ve written of the human heart, though most Americans
report they’d rather post pornographic pictures of themselves
than excerpts from their high school diaries.
Srsly, the formatting on this thing is infuriating.
ReplyDeleteI know. That's what "free" gets you.
DeleteDon't know if this helps, but I use the preview button to look at the formatting before I publish. Of course, it's still all guesswork, and it doesn't give you much options to arrange text other than the space bar and the return key.
DeleteI would like you hear you read this. Call me sometime and read it to me. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there's a way to post audio clips here. That'd be cool.
Delete"We are most ourselves / forgiving what we’ve written of the human heart," Stunning line. Took my breath away.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love this poem, Drew. So many precise images and original expressions. "Like a passed out fratboy" had me rolling. I, too, want to see the original non-fucked up lineation. Can you attach and send me the file? timothyree@gmail.com (you can look up "Nine Desires" in your inbox search to find our last correspondence). I like this oxymoron about hunting games from a gay perspective: it "probably bores and horrifies you." Interesting that you didn't write "or."
ReplyDelete