Head of a White Woman Winking in  General   

She has one good bumblebee
which she leads about town
on a leash of clover.
It's as big as a Saint Bernard
but also extremely fragile.
People want to pet its long, shaggy coat.
These would be mostly whirling dervishes
out shopping for accessories.
When Lily winks they understand everything,
right down to the particle
of a butterfly's wing lodged
in her last good eye,
so the situation is avoided,
the potential for a cataclysm
is narrowly averted,
and the bumblebee lugs
its little bundle of shaved nerves
forward, on a mission
from some sick, young godhead.

By James Tate

Tell Your Friends About It | Print This Poem

Comments

You should be logged in to be able to leave comments

Other poems by James Tate:

• A Knock On The Door
• Days of Pie and Coffee
• Dream On
• Goodtime Jesus
• Head of a White Woman Winking
• Like A Scarf
• Loyalty
• More Later, Less The Same
• My Felisberto
• My Great Great Etc. Uncle Patrick Henry
• Never Again The Same
• Non-Stop
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Shut Up And Eat Your Toad
• Success Comes To Cow Creek
• The Definition of Gardening
• The New Ergonomics
• The Wrong Way Home
• Thinking Ahead To Possible Options And A Worst-Cas