On Turtles
On Turtles
by pat a physics
Crawl one into the pan
you are green like yak piss
the snapping of membranes
take me back to the nesting.
Sell me at the beach
as per the public demand
for the surf and shell
will give you water cougars.
Savages let drains be
but you are the type of guy
to melt into the fizz
of a zigzag wave final.
The lights dangle plants
for native patterns in rocks
they wash our scalps
in the oncoming cavalcade.
I was going to comment on “Fresh Sips”, but found Quasimofo’s comments more than sufficient. Then I noticed this puzzle of a gem, which at first startled me with the imagery of a suicidal turtle being cooked in a pan, then gently reminded me of a six-year-old’s fascination with sea turtles at Sea-Arama. Pat A. Physics always challenges me with the playful dada vs. material surrealism of poems that also could be described as the verbal breakdown of a genius. Please note that I’m not referring to the poet as a genius. “On Turtles” made me cringe when I read it aloud, i.e., “for the surf and shell/will give you water cougars.” But maybe it’s the unnaturalness that makes me, the reader, uncomfortable. And maybe we all need to read outside that comfort zone.
Puzzle of a gem, Pat A. Physics.
I had two turtles, but we let them go in Town Lake… I mean Lady Bird Lake last month. I like, “lights dangle plants” among things.