Michael Casey

the Kong’s bug out

now lost to all film archivists
the giant spider scene
in the movie King Kong
edited out pre theater release
the reason
the preview audiences
left the theater
talking not of the giant ape
but rather
about the poor sailors
from the working class
trapped in a web
to be et
their horrific deaths
proletarian
deaths too earthy
too compelling
too vicious for the producers
to allow
(you have to be aware
of unwanted irony, Coop)
so how
did the end turn out
up there it was
almost in the clouds

exercise in vague pronoun antecedents

at work he is always at her desk
he is then always
holding a piece of paper in his hands
so to prove positive
the visit
to her is work related
and then at the office party 
he is there with his wife
she had shown up as a surprise
and he doesn’t talk to her then 
does not even look
in her general
directions and all I am
thinking is
she is
she really is such a lucky girl

in Botswana, Wayne shoots the elephant
Wayne shoots the elephant
Wayne shoots the elephant
Wayne shoots the elephant

the hunter guide himself
was frustrated
because while Wayne
wasn’t missing the elephant
and the beast was clearly hurting
the kill spot did not seem
to be on Wayne’s target frame
line of sight
view finder
sniperscope
should’ve practiced shooting more
well    aiming anyway
with a creature easy to get close to
(Wayne, may I suggest a cow?)
Wayne shoots the elephant
that is right the fourth time
and the poor creature still alive
wherewith the guide chuckles a little
and then the guide finishes it off
says you really
hurt him bad, Wayne

 

Michael Casey: The Loom Press of Lowell, Massachusetts has reissued a new enlarged edition of Casey's book Millrat.  In 1972 Casey had a book Obscenities in the Yale poetry series.