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Sudden Music
For the boy who spoke only “Animal”
who lived next door to the Mesa Refuge
by Ann Fisher-Wirth
Our neighbor’s rounding up the cows chuckling gurgling
their noses and ears loom up, they are born snuffling out of hill heft
mushi mushi poppy and lupine blossoming
sideways
in his eyes for he is tipping his head
calm teeth sherrr-rip sherrr-rip then ug-ulug-ulug fat tongue and slobber
phew slurrrip ug-ulug-ulug
the stiff hair selves lumber into his arms smelling of warm and pee no hurry
Now our neighbor is shriek and shrike, schreck, he is kit and white-tailed kite
mrrraow at the cream then a low grating karrrr
then happy, the bright wind hanging him sweeekrrkrr
Then black things flints and ants, no sound, our neighbor’s
down there somewhere, he’s fallen off the world
—Sleep, then—
We are wakened again swish swuuuush
zeeeeeeeeeeee whistle phseeeeeeeeeeee
now he is rainbird in the marshy fields fighting flinging its seedspit
Then he passes to camels and donkeys, it’s 4 a.m.
It’s the whole shebang, mountain lions and pumas, he’s got them
by the balls and they sing from his neck, into his face
his heart spurts blood, claws tense, his belly screams, it’s the whole feral rodeo
Ayyyyy-up! That’s fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, you could say faihn almost like fan when someone’s got you by the throat kweeeah hoo hoo hoodoo
kweeeah hoo hoo hoodoo
oh he is hawkboy