Cows on the Freeway: Selected Poems

By G. Murray Thomas

p>Cows on the Freeway is a collection of poems inspired by the ocean and freeways of Southern California. These poems were polished in performances on stages as diverse as Lollapalooza, The Whiskey, National Poetry Slams, and coffeehouse open mikes. They combine a sharp critique of modern life with an absurd sense of humor.

"It's all Murray: dry humor, charm, a big heartwith a little cynical edge to it. He gets his point across with a little ambiguity, but he doesn't push it in your face." Pat Cohee, The Inevitable Press

"At first glance, G. Murray Thomas's poetry is simplisticeven prosaicbut don't be fooled. Whether he's remarking on women washing their clothes in sinks, or cows wandering blithely onto the freeways, Thomas focuses in on the tiny moments that provide character and flavor to what is otherwise an incomprehensible wash development and advertising." Victor D. Infante, journalist and poet

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2000
• ISBN: 9781469740805

G. Murray Thomas

. Murray Thomas is best known as editor of Next . . . , a poetry calendar and newsmagazine. He has been an active participant in the Southern California poetry scene for more than a decade, performing in almost every major poetry venue there. His work has appeared in many small press literary magazines.

Book preview

Contents

Cows on the Freeway

Coast Highway Contradictions

Coast Highway Contradiction Addictions

Skin Cancer

White and Blue, but No Red

Oil

Refinery

Sunset over Anaheim

Packaging determines what we are-

catfish eggs or caviar.

L.A. in the Nineties

Wrong Numbers

L.A. Dreams

L.A. in the Nineties

Conspiracies

Thoughts While Stuck in Traffic on the 25th Anniversary of the Moonshot

The Yellow Haze of Catalina

Laguna, One Week after the Fire

Flares

Giving It Back

Recycling

Frogs

Maps

Black Cobras in Florida

Yellowstone

Taos

Desert Dusk

Nevada

La Musica De Mexico

Laundromats

Coins on the Sidewalk

In the Amazon

Haiku

Last Call Haiku

Desire

Poetry Spilled All Over

the Carpet

The Poetry God

The Poetry Dog

Hotline Index

The Plagiarist

To the Editor Whose Name Will Appear

on My Next Rejection Slip

The Morning After

Love Vs. In Love

Love Vs. In Love

Playoff Love Poem

Variations on Cupid and Psyche

The Power and the Pain

After the Storm

What is this, and what is it used for?

To the Pregnant Woman Reading An Anti-Abortion Tract in the Laundromat

Give Me Real Boobs!

Directions

Maps

Signs

Butterflies and Bridges

Watering the Plants

The Cat

Pain

Falling Off the Edge of Infinity

Absolution

The Ocean Unites the Opposites

Directions

Death to the Real World

The Tattoo

Spiritual Bondage

Obedience School

Living as a Dog

Dolls on Drugs

Death to the Real World

About the Author

and/or one or more of the following chapbooks:

Death to the Real World (poetry sucks press)

Opposite Oceans (Orange Ocean Press)

Poetry Spilled All Over the Carpet (Inevitable Press)

A Rare Thing (Inevitable Press)

ISBN: 0-595-09743-X

ISBN: 978-1-4697-4080-5 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

For Merrillan and Woodlief Thomas, who have lovingly supported my creative urges for my entire life.

Cows on the Freeway

Cows spilled all over the freeway

by another amusing anecdote

on the traffic report.

Cows standing, dazed,

the carcasses of their traveling companions

scattered around them

hinting at something,

something they can’t understand

yet obviously important.

While more things they can’t understand

zip by

too fast to catch

or even focus on

yet, again, obviously important.

These cows know

there is something they must do

RIGHT NOW

but they sure don’t know

what the hell it could be.

I can’t tell you how often

I feel like a cow

on a freeway.

Coast Highway Contradictions

Coast Highway Contradiction Addictions

It’s another smoggy sunset

beyond Pacific Coast Highway

and God is it beautiful!

The pink stains the hills—

Landscaped developments

far lovelier

than naturally barren slopes.

Who wants to live in a desert anyway?

The orange ocean shimmers

Like fast food neon.

The traffic is a symphony-

piccolo pickups

soulful CRXs

and country-western convertibles.

Rap music blasts from a BMW,

and the white girls boogie

in their bikinis.

God I’m hungry!

I want to eat all the fast food

the fast cars

the fast girls.

I want to eat the neon.