Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/13/22

Missive to Bob Dylan

After the once-in-a-decade electrical storm
with its flooding rains, much debris
accumulated in the park along the creek
so I ventured out, gloves on, plastic bag
in hand and a great song stuck in my head
that really started to grate.
I found many bits of cardboard and plastic
from a certain nearby fast ‘food’ outlet
and a folded scrap of windblown paper
with all the answers you were seeking
for so long, dear deserving Nobel laureate.

For men with use of two legs it’s 137 roads.
No mention of women or the disabled so
the answers must have been well back
in last century, like your song.
Lucky doves may nap after only 1 sea
of any size. Cannonballs won’t be banned
now that there are more effective options.
Mountain removal can take millions or
billions but with human-induced climate
change you can expect better results.
Some people, like incarcerated refugees,
for example, won’t be allowed to be free
anytime soon and clearly men who are not
guards can pretend not to notice indefinitely.
Answer to Question 7: Depends if man
is incarcerated with or without a skylight.
Question 8: just 1 but remove earbud,
which, like ears, generally come in pairs.
Just pause that life-changing podcast!
Final Question – considering eternal life
is not possible – is a stray goose to make
up the numbers if ever there was one.
There have been many but they often
end up inside a fox or quietly
steaming on a dining table.

Allan Lake, a stray from Allover, Canada, now writes poetry in Allover, Australia. Latest chapbook of poems, ‘My Photos of Sicily’, published by Ginninderra Press, 2020.