Goat hears that she is doing well.
He goes to the field at night,
luminous, and picks roots and
vegetables.
He leaves them by the shepherd
boy’s door. He knows what to do
with them.
Goat receives a thank you note.
He almost dies.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
Maureen is stung by a bee
heading to her wading pool
in her backyard. Her dad
locates the hive in a nearby
bush.
He tries a spray but
the bees buzz about, so
everyone goes inside. Next
morning, the hive is trampled,
the bush uprooted, the yard
full of rocks.
The year is 2540.
Archaeologists dig up
an ancient tar pit.
They find a sign
that says, “TOYS R US.”
They find a goat skeleton
covered with yarn, perfectly
preserved. They touch it,
it gets up and bites everyone.
They leave it alone.
One day God picked up Goat by his scruff.
“Do you believe in me?” he asked.
“It looks like I have to,” Goat answered.
“Think what you want,” God answered,
dropping him. “Bramble!” yelled Goat.
That night, he broke into Woolworths,
and destroyed the toy section. On a
rubber doll he found a yarn knot
and slipped it behind his whiskers.
His eyes felt like coal.
Goat rowed the boat out,
waving to Paw and Beast.
“I will become a fisher
of men!” Goat cried. “Just
catch fish,” Paw said.
Then he was alone. He saw
a train of fish heading North.
“Nothing will change this,” he said.
Then the water became grass, the fish
gophers. Goat was hungry.
Goat did not understand a word
Paw was saying. He could barely
hear him above the greens he was
chewing. But he felt like it was
raining, there were great holes
in the roof of the cave, & large
round drops were slipping in his
mouth and plopping on the roof
of his mouth. They went fishing, and
Goat caught trout. A syllable! he crowed.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
After dinner, Paw did dishes
while Beast talked to her mother
on the phone. Then they sat down
to talk. Now Goat, Paw said,
know there are two kinds of language:
the language of meaning, and
the language of symbols. One is
the real thing; the other just stands
for something else. One you hear
recognition, a slur; the other, syllables.
Paw picks berries on all fours.
He is getting up when Goat butts him.
Luckily he is butted in the right
direction, and doesn’t mind. Goat
keeps at him, nuzzles his knobs
to Paw’s flank. Why do you pick
berries? Paw lifts Goat up over
his shoulder and carries him home.
Goat becomes a centerpiece for Paw
& Beast’s dinner. He stands still,
chews greens.
from GOAT lies down on Broadway. For more info see here.
Translations from the English 