Glorious Strange Summer

It was a glorious summer
we played sand games
       with the strange girls of the islands
Thier bodies were ripe fruit, firm and succulent

We stared at nebulous angel dwellings
   and strange signs in the sunsets
we made mad love to the dolphins
   their giggling chatter was irresistible

some rode whales in the glistening waves 
   the mermaids rode stingrays like sea eagles

sipping tropical drinks on oceanless beaches
   we hunted lizards in the desert caves

I killed the mighty dragon there
          his pulsing blood
                  caused cactus to sprout

we drank poison like water
   and pissed fire in the night
       like napalm - cleansing, glorious fire
strange beasts licked our palms dry
   and made lunch of our clothes
buzzing insects swarmed our groins
   and oozing soars drove us too far
we bled for hours in the ocean

   but the sharks found us distasteful—
      had us ejected from the sea
angry Neptune scolded us
              and caused our gills to wither
                         now our lungs see only land

for spite, we raped a sailor’s wife that night
   she screamed like a siren
      but then she had her way with us all
          passed herself around for more
what a lonely, wretched, wanton wench she was

we lost our fins for that escapade
   our new legs felt strange, but good
and walking the coast we ate sea shells 
   and collected carrion
we fed cheering crowds from a can
   and painted rocks of pictures . . .
      quiet coastal scenes 
         island paradise

we exchanged our vices for virtue
   and began to live the new faith
stealing money from the junkies
   feeding the naked
      clothing the hungry
         killing the strong for sport

we prayed in a drainage pipe
   sang songs to an angry god
      whose deaf ears were oblivious
   we granted each other
      sondom to our god
         and cut our own keys to the kingdom
            in the noon-time summer sun

religion was a strange-tasting food
   it caused us to vomit living crabs
      we named them each and all

living from moment to moment 
   we wandered in ignorant bliss
towns and harbors and life passed on by
   journeys we took by night and by day
drinking with the drunkards
   carousing with newly familiar strangers
we learned joy and pain 
                    libidinous delight

one evening, bizarre scenes hailed us in a harbor
   the whales were harpooning sailors
      dolphins were herding the tuna 
         sharks were patrolling the docks
we hailed our estranged brothers of the sea
   in retaliation, raped the harbormaster
      he was a good roll till he died
         we ate his corpse and split the scene

for that escapade, we were exiled
   endless oceanless beaches, our new home
      we searched for fossils in canyons
          found a dinosaur who spoke
             we worshipped till the monks
                  with their funny hats rebuked us

shedding our clothes like societal dogma
   we led a naked parade through the wilderness
       sang songs of praise to our childhood gods
         and coupled with the peoples of the land
cops took us away for indecency
    we rode in the back
      to the house of detention
some cocky, jerk-off knight in blue
   asked us who we were - what we knew
we claimed the fifth, then drank it
   he objected to us and our ways
      so we opened his narrow mind
and after the boys with badges 
    lay sleeping in pools of dream
       we let free the criminals . . . 
           but changing our fickle minds,
               we killed the whores
                    and raped the rest—
weird scenes inside a jail cell

as summer was coming to an end
   we threw a bonfire party in the canyon
      sacrifice of the vestal virgin to pleasure
         selfish justification of hedonist dreams
that was a glorious night for all of us
   we acquired serpents from under the rocks
      and dueled with them
          in the dancing shadows of flame
we drank the poisons of cactus nectars
   and stumbled blindly to dance
       coyotes attacked us in packs of six
           but joined in with us instead
                we raped them at midnight
                      —full moon, high noon

the moon was a cool, clean, smiling virgin
   she washed our obscenity in innocent light
       but still, our dreams turned to agony and death

a great, green, grinning demon
   gave us challenge in the twilight
      we drank each other’s blood
          became brothers of the soul

snakes began to serenade us
   from the far shore of a fiery lake
      and they were singing,
          “come join us, brethren!
                in sinful, serpentine sanctuary
          without atmosphere, there is no air
                here we all get fried
                   in this burning vacuum Inferno!”

in the morning we awoke
   and in the distance - a cry of alarm
      the world died in a heartbeat
         fission breeds fusion breeds death of the world

when consciousness returned, we laughed
   slow, leprous death of radiation
      we were still living, we had won!
         we prayed for forgiveness
            and truly repented our worldly ways

“welcome to the kingdom, my sons.
   all is forgiven, you repented in time.
      you shall not taste of death again.”

What a glorious strange summer it was!!

©David M Pitchford 1988 (2007 revision)

This poem was a hit back when I wrote it. At the time, I knew the tangential allusions throughout. I must confess that much of it is now mystery to me. I post it here for Amy, who was one of its first readers and mentions it ocassionaly to this day.