Two
poems from Cody Walker's Shuffle and Breakdown
followed
by a note on the author
Update
My
latent superpowers, well, they're back:
obliterate a marriage with my mind;
bewitch the president, that lying sack
of – Cody! Take it slow. In time I'll find
–
please note, I'm speaking as my therapist –
the equilibrium that time affords.
I've also rerouted (I have a list)
(1) my neural pathways and (2) some fjords.
America's
a country for the lonely,
the loony. Whitman said it years ago.
Remember, he could fly and he was only
an editor, a wingéd bearded schmo.
My
powers have increased a hundredfold
since you left. Maybe a thousand-, all told.
Bozo
Sapphics
Bozo,
Toe to Toe
Tilt
the glass: the terrorist turns to freedom
Fighter. Likewise, clowns, in the funhouse mirror,
Stand as kings. Self-interested theories on which
Bozo calls bullshit.
Bozo's Imbroglio
Showmen,
offered tenderness, tend to take it.
Husbands know this. Tickle a clown: does he not
Laugh? Then why subpoena him, why inflict more
Pricks on this Bozo?
Bozo, Woe
Bozo's
six apologies, five excuses,
Four rebuffs, and three switcheroos are met by
Two deaf ears. Behaviorists gather, call this
First-order clowning.
Rebozos
Scarves,
of ample length, that are brightly dyed and
Chiefly worn by Mexican women. Not a
Further Bozo. Not an attempt at cloning.
Shudder to think it.
Bozo, Quid Pro Quo
Names,
he knows. Our Bozo can cough up names till
Cows croak. Ask for names in return, however . . .
Same-old same-old: "Bundle" (in Old High German),
"Big Mouth" (in Latin).
Bozo
Utters a Bon Mot
Asked
about increasingly vitriolic
Spats regarding Comedy's tragic center,
Bozo cries, "Ridiculous quibberdicking!
HA ha ha." [Weeping.]
Bozo, Incognito
He's
the older guy in the hat. Or wait – the
Tap instructor (cane and corsage) about to
Pay his tab. Or Bartender Joe. Good Jesus!
Everywhere: Bozo.
©
Cody
Walker was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1967, and was educated
at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Arkansas,
and the University of Washington, where he obtained his BA,
MFA, and PhD, respectively. He teaches English at the University
of Washington and poetry through Seattle Arts & Lectures’
Writers in the Schools program. He also serves as a writer-in-residence
at Seattle’s Richard Hugo House. He received the 2003 James
Boatwright III Prize for Poetry from Shenandoah, and
his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Parnassus,
Slate, Subtropics, Light, Prairie Schooner,
the Cortland Review, Best New Poets 2005, and
The Best American Poetry 2007. He received a Distinguished
Teaching Award from the University of Washington in 2005, and
he received fellowships from the University of Arizona Poetry
Center and the Vermont Studio Center in 2006.
"Update"
first appeared in Slate, and "Bozo Sapphics"
first appeared in Best New Poets 2005.
