a pilgrim’s progress
KC Wilder
traipsed outrageous muddy fields.
found bugfaced animals.
around cornice, hill and mountain,
craned my neck to see.
landscapes revealed
unfortunately little.
i had to know.
mounted bike,
pushing through the woods
on cross-country hikes,
thinking in this world somehow
someplace he must have
left a trace,
like cassini, circled saturn
neptune jupiter and mars,
like some dogtown pegasus
circuiting the seven stars,
from beantown to charleston,
hung around dreary stations
asking people
have you seen him?
have you seen him?
i believed somebody had.
maria ouspenskaya1
stared at microbes in my hand,
mumbling of some cursed
hirsute mystery man
as i danced across / divides
seattle to block island,
dotted lines connecting to
my own inner monster.
footnote:
1 maria ouspenskaya — crusty, diminutive, wizened-faced actress who played clairvoyant trannsylvanian gypsy in 1930s classic films “frankenstein” and “the wolfman.”
it was she who warned lon chaney jr. he had “the sign of the pentagram” in his hand.
“when de moon is full and de volfbane blooms ... ”
