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Absalom's Hair (New York Sidewalk) — page 3
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AND THE BAbe the child spoek
to the old ones on the ground gathered
and sais take the moss that hangs from
the lower breanches
and tie it into your hair like rtibbons
and the tree the mighty tree will
lift you up for to go there
to the new world
tie yourselfs heirs
TO A NEW WORLD NAMED ABSALOM
and theyse elders cheered and cried out
thanks
and tied their haires into thje moss
they were asll liftede up
and hapy to make their escxzpe
ME i was lefte on the ground alone
all eldres amd babes and kids on bikes
were in the tree now
but i would NOT
GO
with thesze !cursed buzzards and bastards
i would bettr be homeless with tears more
and streetperson on empty worldalone
agan the tro;ll with bags and invisible
abandonded mauybe with my elepjhants
and i shouted at the ch0ild
and wept and tore my hair and cl0othes
and the babe was tired i know but
i had walked and waited so long
and hadf helped and noiw this
so i said what words were in my motuh
that elepants and the earth were fine
and i wanted no promotion and no pillows
and no golden tubes no one arm and one eye
AND NO MROE BIG BOOKS
i WANTDED ELEPAHNTS
and my memeories and swinging trunks
and four seasons and all between
and me wa;lking with the wind blowingnot always a;lways flyfing
my footprints i wanted bck
*
and the KIDS theyre lik bbirds chirping at the end of dsay /
chattering and cxheeping in the tree top
and they wqere waving their wings like wind
back and forthward swinging and swaying
rthe chilfdren birdss at the treetop
and the babe the child it dsaw them
and its sad tired face tiurned bright
it lookjed at me and winked
oh yes i saw THE CHILD
i sw the wink and the smile for ME
and the baby birds were growig loudeer
many voices many soudnss
crying out and
yowling
for miyne elep[hants
and they tghem lkids they ssang
and they puled in harmony
they was the pushme poullyou in the tree
and they all sanggd together like a chorus of bords
a big baby bird choir
witth the babebychild conducting
swinging its arms
that tree swungd and itt swayed and started to spin
with old laxzy bons
hanging byb their haires
ribbinsed to the bouyghs
betwined and entangled
they old wer allstuck
and as the baby the child waved and pointedat each kid
they sang their each OWHN verse
and the cradle tree
rocked
and they sang what they 3wanted
THEY WANTED
eplephants and tigers and big whales maikng singing sounds and wolfs and dogs many dogs like
shephersd and newsfs and collies and labs and CATSs too they sang for flamingoes and eagles
and sparrows redbreasts and swing sets and ball bats and skateboards and games with compu3trss
everywhere and many on levell 9 and p[rincesses and p[rizes and special powors ands flying in
ballonsa and airplanes and ropckets and woith packs ont heir backs but walking too
and the tree swung back nn forth harder and more
and then starts twirlding a round on its stem
with the old ones caught by their hair now theos big ones those old ones in suits
all shouting and hanging from the bottom
like a tiltawhirlr
but the kids they shouted more awhat they wanted
both boys and girls and in all coliurs they wanted and wished for all colrss in the woruld but
mostly blue and green and red i think oh and yellow yeaah yellwo and the sun to be coming up
and then cloudy and the sun going down and moons and ponds and rivers and the beachc many
beahc3es and for being loud and quiet and talk and silent and louder again
and the babe waved at each chold in turn
and they told their best bedtime dream
that they wanted
of having one eyes and tweo and three and four they shouted they shoutred glad and one leg and
two and three and whEEELs too to be 7 and 15 and one hundred and 15 and 21 years and old and
new and and a thousand years old and sinodaurs and old faithfulk and terrordactyls and drrgaons
even NOOOOO said some to the draggpons but then they said a few ones onyl and not too scarey
and indians many manny indians and buffaloe and shaggy elephnats liek manmouths i saiud
yes i said i wanted them BACK
them longhaired elephants with biug tusks and wooly
i said thAT
that was mine
this is PAGE THREE
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