Colton Huelle
2 Poems
My Friend, the Prophet
I don’t mind if you shoot me, just don’t tell me about it
~Bob Dylan
1.
I have a friend who passes time playing
prophet & convincing me
that my eyes are changing, learning
to see past the end of the calendar,
to outlive extinction. He calls it evolution
& assures me that I should be fine,
that we were born to adapt to dust.
2.
A woman pushing a newborn
in a stroller——a tour
of the world
that my friend tells me
I should be distancing myself from
like a lover you plan on
leaving.
3.
A cardboard warning across the sreet:
FIND GOD BEFORE GOD FINDS YOU.
I never liked playing
hide & seek, but the prophet says
we won’t need God once the calendar ends
& we know how to build new worlds
ourselves; creationism will be
the most popular preschool activity, like
spelling words in shaving cream on a desk.
4.
Look, I tell him, I don’t mind
if Atlas plans on going bowling,
just don’t tell me about it
prophet & convincing me
that my eyes are changing, learning
to see past the end of the calendar,
to outlive extinction. He calls it evolution
& assures me that I should be fine,
that we were born to adapt to dust.
2.
A woman pushing a newborn
in a stroller——a tour
of the world
that my friend tells me
I should be distancing myself from
like a lover you plan on
leaving.
3.
A cardboard warning across the sreet:
FIND GOD BEFORE GOD FINDS YOU.
I never liked playing
hide & seek, but the prophet says
we won’t need God once the calendar ends
& we know how to build new worlds
ourselves; creationism will be
the most popular preschool activity, like
spelling words in shaving cream on a desk.
4.
Look, I tell him, I don’t mind
if Atlas plans on going bowling,
just don’t tell me about it
Good Riddance, I’ll Miss You
Say it quickly,
you might regret it
if you don’t, but I promise
that it won’t feel right as it leaves
your tongue. The worst
is knowing that at
any given moment, you are losing
a part of yourself (leaving it behind
like all the people
who forgot your name so long
ago). Everywhere you look,
they are moving on
without you——leaving you
a dream catcher
hanging between adiós,
auf Wiedersehen, ciao, goodbye,
good riddance, I doubt
I’ll ever see you again and that
doesn’t really bother either of us, but
better to pretend that it does, better
to act like
pearless oysters.
Auf Wiedersehen. Good riddance. I hope
I’ll never see you again, but I’ll
miss you——
this much.
Say it quickly,
you might regret it
if you don’t, but I promise
that it won’t feel right as it leaves
your tongue. The worst
is knowing that at
any given moment, you are losing
a part of yourself (leaving it behind
like all the people
who forgot your name so long
ago). Everywhere you look,
they are moving on
without you——leaving you
a dream catcher
hanging between adiós,
auf Wiedersehen, ciao, goodbye,
good riddance, I doubt
I’ll ever see you again and that
doesn’t really bother either of us, but
better to pretend that it does, better
to act like
pearless oysters.
Auf Wiedersehen. Good riddance. I hope
I’ll never see you again, but I’ll
miss you——
this much.
