Saturday, May 30, 2009

An awkward song draft from the Caliche Poems

The Vertebrate Shuffle: or Mule Grinder’s Song

out on the Llano

short faced Arctodos simus

great shelled Geochelone

and teated Adelobasileus cromptoni

are doing it

Dicynodants and Aetosaurs

dancing in our dreams

Xenacanthus mooraiLeptostyrax macrorhiza

didn’t have’em and couldn’t do it

Creccoides osbornii

had ‘em but didn’t

while Capromeryx minimus was dainty

and good at it

the vertebrate shuffle

all the kids are doin’ it

all over the Llano

from the Pliocene to the Triassic

from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene

come on now and do the shuffle

Borophages diversidensColognathus obscuras

Paleorhinus scurriensisTecovasuchus chaterjeei

Malerisaurus longstoni Leptosuchus crosbiensis

sediment n’ effluvium

all softly fossilized

Paleorhinus bransoniKoskinonodon prefectus

Rileymilleru cosgriffiRutiodon megalodon

Trilophosaurus buettneriLatiscopus disjunctus

all hoofing the shuffle

Turseodus dolorensisHemicalypterus

don’t got ‘em and don’t do it

Canis lepophagus

crepuscular or not

ate what it wanted

while squadrons of Platygonus bicalcaratus

did it in the brush

the vertebrate shuffle

all the kids are doin’ it

all over the Llano

from Muleshoe to Slaton

from Hale Center to Slide

come on now and do the shuffle

Palo Duro Canyon

Adobe Walls

Quita Que

White River

the Little Tule

Llano Dogtown Fork

it’s gonna be a vertebrate party tonight

Pachygenelus milleri

Adelobasileus cromptoni

Colognathus obscurus

Libognathus sheddi

Malerisaurus langstini

they are all vertebrates

and they’re doing it in Texas


5 comments:

  1. OK, the tabbed elements didn't quite work rigth with the page width. They should be abput half as many lines.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "vertebrates doing it in texas" -- terrifying thought -- some vertebrates are bushes

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  3. beautiful shuffleling sounds and banjo!

    ReplyDelete
  4. and I meant the uncovered signified , not your text when I said "very very long"

    ReplyDelete