The Big Slide

Here's a poem and a picture.

Tales of the Jade Scorpion King

It’s spring & I’m testing my legs.
Yesterday, I jumped an electric fence.
Tomorrow I’ll leap into a cedar shaded pasture.
The ecstasy of my bellow will scatter the chicks.

The baby in me wants to jump & grab

at the same moment the loon flies.
I’m fat & spoiled enough to cry for titties.
My scream competes with every sound of night.

The fox will not tolerate the grapes we drink

before hunting that beautiful creature
who attracts & eludes our dogs & cunning.
Women encircle its guile around their necks.

Fruit dangles off my wreath & horn.

I chew the cud & play the reeds, & dance
around bonfires & the all-night moon.
Thirst & movement push me into trance.

I squat in the water.  My calves flex.  I rise.

The split of my hooves, unaware of consequence,
divides the mud, creates impressions,
leaves records on the living earth.

Hedges protect the footpaths of girls

whose feet are skilled in many angles.
Their strong legs, full of potential, get
ready in the spring, & I’m about to jump.