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Wildebeest (Panic Attack)
Submitted by misener on June 5, 2010 – 3:54 pm12 Comments
Wildebeest (Panic Attack)
by shawn misener
In this rain
slanted sideways
all people wash out the same
wet shadows
losing focus takes more effort
than keeping it
moving about the block
trying to forget such a trauma
in such a storm
a wildebeest escaping a pillow
dreaming a languid lion
patiently tracking behind bent dumpsters
head down hands in pockets
crashing away from bed
choosing the safety of neon slicked pavement
over cotton sheets twisted in anxiety
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I like how the poem starts off on the wildebeest out in the wild during a storm then in the last two stanzas injects some human accessories making a link or comparison to our own situation/experiences and that of the animal. We are all animals, in effect, are we not? Or at least down to the most primal level, or instinctually, we have much in common with the wildebeest. Nice one Livingston!
i can’t tell, as a member from a way different species. i thought he just looked all ‘mind yo own beeswax’.
but the ass is virtually implied. I mean, look at the wildebeest’s face. he’s deliberately assin’ off.
i like how the wildebeest’s ass isn’t showing, out of respect of this beautiful piece of art.
whatever, Joe (:
you like it just to spite me
liked the 2nd to the last line
I remember this being one of my favorites from your chapbook. “crashing away from bed” is a perfect line.
Thanks. I feel it a lot too.
yeah i don’t think i’ve ever even tried. maybe i should. this is innovative. i feel this so much.
I wrote this during an honest-to-god panic attack, and in some ways it’s one of my favorite poems. Unlike the other poem I wrote during another panic attack:
GGGgggggrrrrraaahhh!!!!
diediedie
breathebreath
gggggrrrrahhhhh
fuckheartfuckheartgrrrrrrrrahhh!!
BEAUTIFUL. thank you misener!