UNDERGROUND VOICES MAGAZINE/BEN KOPEL


	UNDERGROUND VOICES: POETRY

BEN KOPEL

Invincible Coyote

The cartoon hopeful
Allowed the animators
To run him through
With a hollow pipe
In the middle of his audition.
He got some good laughs
And a solid score, but failed
To make callbacks.
Crumbling his hat,
He thanked the crew
For their time
And left the studio.
He shifted in his seat, having
Forgotten to ask someone to
Remove the pipe before
Getting on the bus.
A boy from the local
Nuclear reactor offered
To remove the offending
Length from the coyote.
A crowd gathered around them.
A woman fainted into her coat
And the mayor had doubts.
This time he was not brave.
The pipe was in his center,
Maybe holding important things
In their place.
But he is a good cartoon.
It’s like swords
and stones, the pipe sliding
Out and that coyote whispering
You are something beautiful.
You belong in one of those
Road Runner landscapes
My ancestors dreamed up.