to the tune of “It Was a Good Day”
And this, my brothers and sisters,
is how I ended up with one of the ladies
from my mother’s book club:
I was home from school for the summer,
taking a break from mowing the lawn
to get a glass of cold milk from the fridge.
I went in to the living room
to see if there were any snacks left,
just as the circle was just breaking up,
and found two women talking
as my mother showed three others
to the door. And then there was one.
“Well the horses might be pretty,
but the goddamn book is beautiful,”
she said, waiving the book like a pennant.
“Have you read it?” I took a bite
from a biscuit and said, “Uh … no.”
Took a sip of milk. Gulped.
“You probably spend all your time
chasing pretty girls, don’t you?”
“Uh …” Before I could finish she said,
“Won’t have much luck with that mustache,”
and after wiping the white from my lip
… today was like one of those fly dreams …
with her thumb, then licked it clean.
-1 point for transgressiveness, + 1 point because it’s artistic not prurient, +1 point for narrative concision, +1 point for scene-setting, +3 points for champion line breaks, +1 point for representing the West Coast.
Well done, sir.
Agreed, mostly. -1, I fear, for the notion of getting a glass of cold milk to refresh oneself in the midst of strenuous warm weather activity.
You stay classy, San Diego.
This could be turned into a late night Got Milk? commercial.
But +5 points, if not more, for all of the things the milk symbolizes from one line to the next. No other beverage would do. The milk makes this poem.
+1 to you for the video, though.
TAGGED WITH: PRAY FOR ME TO THE LORD OUR GOD
I don’t understand why “Mrs. Robinson” didn’t first come to mind as the tune – or was that too easy?
Nice one, though.
JOB
Why not ‘Mrs Robinson’? I suggest that you’re witnessing a little Korrektiv-style memetic mutation, and propose that the mutation involved the following steps:
1a) Finnegan watches La Dolce Vita, in which he sees images of a statue of Christ suspended beneath a helicopter.
1b) Nguyen hears Ice Cube’s track ‘Ghetto Bird’, whose title refers, figuratively, to a police helicopter, and whose lyrics include further references to a police helicopter.
1c) Nguyen reads various comments on the Korrektiv blog by Webb and/or Big Jon, Bully, wherein Webb or Bully praises the item highlighted in the post proper by saying that said item ‘recalls the best of’ some artist.
2) Finnegan writes a poem whose imagery derives, in part, from his memory of these filmed images. In particular, he mentions a helicopter.
3) Nguyen reads Finnegan’s poem, likes it, and is especially taken with the ‘helicopter’ image.
4) Nguyen associates the helicopter from Finnegan’s poem with the helicopter from Ice Cube’s track.
5) Nguyen expresses his praise of Finnegan’s poem, as well as his (i.e., Nguyen’s) association of Finnegan’s helicopter with Ice Cube’s ‘ghetto bird’, by writing a comment that employs the form established by Webb and Big Jon, Bully.
6) Finnegan reads Nguyen’s comment, including the mention of Ice Cube therein.
7) Ice Cube is near the forefront of the items on Finnegan’s mind.
8) Finnegan thinks of Ice Cube during the writing and/or editing of a new poem.
9) Finnegan includes references to a different Ice Cube track, ‘It Was a Good Day’, in his new poem.
Please bear in mind that the foregoing is somewhat speculative and open to further refinement (though not to wholesale rejection).
Coo-coo-ca-choo…
I once heard that Simon added Joe DiMaggio to the song because he was stumped with the final verse and was watching the news one day and heard that DiMaggio was retiring – and thus and thereunto the nation turned its lonely eyes….
Hate to play the editor here – but just wondering if:
and after wiping the white from my lip
… today was like one of those fly dreams …
with her thumb, then licked it clean.
Might not be better said as:
and after wiping the white from my lip
… today was like one of those fly dreams …
with her thumb, she licked it clean.
I’m there.