Goat’s letters, returned,
sit in a heap. I could
have been eating, he
thinks, I could have
been breaking down huge
mountains. On each envelope
is a purple-ink hand, pointing:
RETURN TO SENDER, NOT ACCEPTED.
Goat, resigned, eats his own
words, eyes final punctuation.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
After the market crash,
Goat had to do something:
He stands on a bed in
the Royal Hotel. Is his beard
a little too pointy, a
little too bushy? The porter
slips him the key to the
Princess’ room. Goat leaves
early and sleeps in Mersey.
Goat lies on a beach
in Florida. Old hag
Fleming spreads sunflower
oil on his coat.
Tomorrow he will
see Disneyworld.
He wants to go
out in a flash,
he wants to kick Mickey
over Epcot Center.
Goat rests in a ditch.
Religion always goes
through him quickly:
Goat imagines fat, naked
martyrs sweating
in a white white sauna
where Jesus sits, towel
covering his wounds.
He gets up to run in place.
He is disgusted with them.
Sunday Jerry rested
& Goat ate him.
Jerry didn’t even run,
he almost slept through it.
“You know what this means…”
is all he said.
Fresh air cut his lungs
The dust polished road
wound out of the seminary
Goat passed, catching a scent.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
Goat eats dead grass.
“Blessed are the gentle.”
Goat eats all the host.
“Blessed are the patient.”
Goat eats the readings.
“Blessed are those with ears.”
Goat eats Jerry’s tie.
“Blessed are the naked.
The earth is fertile with God.”
Goat profanes the altar.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
Goat lands on a cactus.
Let me help you, a voice says.
It is Jerry Falwell.
Goat: I’m hungry.
Jerry: The Lord Provideth.
Enter the wandering turkey.
Goat rips his head off.
Blood spurts on Jerry’s suit.
These are the signs I look for,
he says, wiping his face.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
Why do you walk, Troll asks.
Why can’t you live under a bridge.
Goat gets up, straw mouth, blocks
thin path. His hooves strike
dry dirt, buck tooth bite, moot
argument. Troll climbs
under a bush. God picks Goat
up by his scruff. You should
hear yourself speak, He says,
boots him, perfectly, Goat lands
like bread.
Troll: Wet moss.
Goat: Tree algae.
Troll: Dead leaves.
Goat: Rocks in Water.
Troll: Nuts on ground.
Goat: Roses in thorns.
Troll: Farm.
Goat: Whorehouse in Gibraltar.
No one’s too strong, Goat;
Nothing useful is saved.
Bones stick out his fingers.
I got this from climbing, he said,
I play the guitar till I bleed.
Goat lifts his cartilage hoof,
worn, ground. Accordion, he said,
I eat anything.
He showed his yarn scars.
Troll brought him pieces
of the toll booth he had eaten.
They waited in the dark for rabbits.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here. Lino-cut by Tom Williams.
Translations from the English 