John Knoepfle
Farmer and the Owl
farmer said to this owl he caught
okay you skinny prophet
lets see how you light up the dark
theres your tailfeathers
diddled in kersoene
and struck to hells fire with my match
owl fussed and flared in the yard
screeched hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
o god of all owls stiffen my bones with manganese
and you you son of a kansas fathead
bawl out loud when you see my revelations
here I go and haylofts to the last of me
o my virginal owlsoul
may you rise with a pure blue flame
from the ashes of this barn tonight
farmer watched his barn burn down
birdshit he said birdshit
dirty pious birdshit birdshit
The best phrase has to be:
a) diddled in kerosene
b) son of a kansas fathead
c) dirty pious birdshit
d) perhaps in another poem
Notes:
- ‘bawl out loud when you see my revelations’ sounds like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.
- I read the ending as sharp satire in that even after his barn has just burned down, the farmer still has not learned his lesson. This recalls the thick headed characters in any Kubrick film, but let us link to Dr. Strangelove in particular.