This poem was part of the selection of poetry that won second place in the University of California system-wide 2010 Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize. It follows the structure of the children’s rhyme, “See See Oh Playmate.”
See see oh playmate.
Come out and play with me,
And bring your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow,
In through my cellar door, and
And we’ll be jolly friends,
Forever more, more, more
1,2,3,4.
Observations of Yogurt
1. Into the Cellar (slide down my rainbow, in through my cellar door)
Keep windows between curtains
and keep all life in cool wooden rooms
Slide over the window ledge, crawling, pushing
When you are so deep with
dirt peace and so heavy
and dripping
you’ll feel it in your bowels
even the stagnant motions will stop,
no soft grindings
but all the little beasts
resting their heads, ostrich-like
It is the sun drooling in
from the slit in the curtains. It is
the packed floor and the barrels
the wood that softens and creaks. It is
beams arching underground
the sleepy and ponderous movement of storage.
When you are fully spongy and dumb
I’ll spill through the curtains, clapping my own hands.
Pry the lids off barrels,
raise our spoons.
2. Supplement (we’ll be jolly friends, forever more, more, more)
The yogurt I eat is alive
and as I eat it
I become more alive
3. Slapping My Palms Together (bring your dollies three)
Lemon does not do this,
nor lamb.
Lamb has never been
alive inside me. Pre-chewed and
stiff
digested by others’ juices.
I’ve been hollered up at from the bottom
of rain barrels, the catch-all
I’ve caught my skin on nails holding
down the lids
holding lids closed to the raining, breathing sky
Have you found it?
I found it
indigestible
4. Advanced Masturbation Techniques (climb up my apple tree)
I am touching myself,
and I am spooning yogurt into myself.
Life enters and life
barrels out.
Observations of Yogurt
See see oh playmate.
Come out and play with me,
And bring your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow,
In through my cellar door, and
And we’ll be jolly friends,
Forever more, more, more
1,2,3,4.
1. Into the Cellar (slide down my rainbow, in through my cellar door)
Keep windows between curtains
and keep all life in cool wooden rooms
Slide over the window ledge, crawling, pushing
When you are so deep with
dirt peace and so heavy
and dripping
you’ll feel it in your bowels
even the stagnant motions will stop,
no soft grindings
but all the little beasts
resting their heads, ostrich-like
It is the sun drooling in
from the slit in the curtains. It is
the packed floor and the barrels
the wood that softens and creaks. It is
beams arching underground
the sleepy and ponderous movement of storage.
When you are fully spongy and dumb
I’ll spill through the curtains, clapping my own hands.
Pry the lids off barrels,
raise our spoons.
2. Supplement (we’ll be jolly friends, forever more, more, more)
The yogurt I eat is alive
and as I eat it
I become more alive
3. Slapping My Palms Together (bring your dollies three)
Lemon does not do this,
nor lamb.
Lamb has never been
alive inside me. Pre-chewed and
stiff
digested by others’ juices.
I’ve been hollered up at from the bottom
of rain barrels, the catch-all
I’ve caught my skin on nails holding
down the lids
holding lids closed to the raining, breathing sky
Have you found it?
I found it
indigestible
4. Advanced Masturbation Techniques (climb up my apple tree)
I am touching myself,
and I am spooning yogurt into myself.
Life enters and life
barrels out.