At An Airport Bar - An X Rated Poem
This is a silly little poem written for a friend. It details what you might call a "casual encounter" between two ships passing in the night... in an airport bathroom.
There is a great deal of metaphor in this poem which is unknowable without significant insight into my personal history. I don't think it is strictly necessary, though, to understand the symbolic intricacy to enjoy the piece. What I do think is necessary is that it is understood by a reader beforehand that the war is a time period I spent living in North Carolina. The Fox is me before leaving Oklahoma for North Carolina. The Panda is me returning to Oklahoma from North Carolina. The Kangaroo and the Seagull are both metaphors for the girl that this poem was written for, who knows who she is and I'm confident will find this all quite amusing.
I made the shy admission
I'd like to write to you
You gave me that permission
So here is what I'll do
I'll tell a simple story
Of life and love and war
It doesn't end in glory
It doesn't end in gore
The tale's about a Panda
A Fox and Kangaroo
A Sparrow and a Seagull
And some of them are you
The Fox and Panda sat down
A lonely airport bar
One returning here to town
The other off to war
The Fox said he was ready
To give his life for peace
His aim was always steady
His courage would not decrease
The only thing that hurt him
And gave him cause to drink
A Kangaroo'd caught his eye
And set his mind to think
"He doesn't even know me"
"He set my heart on fire"
To which the Panda told him
"Well get him on the wire"
"His heart is with another"
"I'm nothing that he'd want"
"But if I die in battle"
"I know just who I'd haunt"
The Panda drank another
A furrow in his brow
"I think I understand you"
The Fox: "I don't see how"
"It's true that I'm returning"
"I'm safe and home again"
"My time for fighting's over"
"To it I say amen"
"But in my darkest hour"
"When hope and faith had died"
"I met a handsome Seagull"
"From whom I now must hide"
"As bullets flew above us"
"I held his hand and cried"
"I told him that I loved him"
"In him I could confide"
"But as the danger left us"
"In going there to here"
"He said 'I'm getting married'"
""She's'a flighty lil' deer.'"
The Fox admitted that this
Was much like his own pain
He said, "I've gotta go piss"
But still he did remain
He brushed against the Panda
A subtle little touch
And said to him in whisper
"I like you very much"
Four animals you've met now
Two taken; two alone
The Sparrow is arriving
No reason to postpone
For in that airport bathroom
As quiet as two mice
A Fox and Panda made love
And love and love... wow, thrice?
You see, the way the Sparrow
Has figured into this
Is that he is the spirit
Born from their carnal bliss
Right about the moment that
The Fox had raised his eyes
With his ears in panda paws
And paws on panda thighs
That was the very moment
The Panda looked straight down
That was the birth of Sparrow
When Fox did nearly drown
Before the Fox had risen
Turned, pressed against the wall
The Sparrow took it's first breath
And whistled out a call
Panda's paw on Fox's mouth
They couldn't make a peep
Sparrow spread its wings and flew
Their love was sinking deep
Panda bit the Fox's neck
And once again did fill
Fox's needy body with
The product of his thrill
Fox got down upon all fours
And truly played the part
While Panda for that third time
Plowed his way to Fox' heart
I sat beside my window
Bird lighted in a tree
He sang of Fox and Panda
That's how this came to me
The Kangaroo and Seagull
The persons of your dreams
They are not so important
As Fox and Panda seems
What did the Sparrow teach me?
The metaphor, you see
"Fuck the past right in its ass"
"But do it lovingly"