Cirque Du Cootchay

By Al Ferber

Hoochi Cootchay Coo. Dance and do the Cootch whenever possible. See how many you can fit
in a clown car. Thus the Cirque.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664147003

Al Ferber

Al Ferber a septuagenerian going on 13. Born. Regrettably… A North Philly kid. Survived education at Temple U., Penn State, Villanova U. Alcoholic 30 years. Sober 23 years. Indenture servant to Catherine the Great 34 years. Learned to love and appreciate cats and one dog. Authored 30 books of poems, 2 novels, 3 chap books. Poems in Magazines in U.S., England, Scotland, France. Still alive, on the downward path of the sliding board, as of this writing. An undocumented alien in the world. Resides Ocean City, NJ surrounded by water with Cathi, Luna, Mitzi, and Opal. So there.

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Copyright © 2021 by Al Ferber.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

cover art by Al Ferber

All poems included here have appeared in The Gnu Gnus and Mangle-zine, reprinted with my permission. Al Ferber

Rev. date: 12/10/2020

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

823653

Dedicated to Cathi (my wife and bane)

to Hop Wechsler

- who has been enduring my words ever since.

to all the Saint’d Souls

-who have endured me and/or my words at all

even for a nanosecond.

And to all the Strap Hangers

Gus said where there is beauty

there is always danger

the rose

most beautiful of flora

it’s thorny stem

you may forget

distracted by the beauty

of the bloom

a woman distracting by

her shell

where just beneath

the skin might be harboring

unthinkable distortions

of character

of heart of soul

the idea the illusion of USA

in complete n utter conflict

with it’s practices

from its inception

in the right here right now

CONTENTS

The Fall

Sun Seen Through Tree

Globe Lamp, Radiator, Ballerina, n Baby Carriage

That S.O.B. Can Dream !!!

This Painter’s Al-go-rhythm

Weathered Architecture

Sand Trap

In the Parking Lot

What About the Plan

Knit to Pick

What You Say ?

Entropy

Earlier in Life

Shootout at Extreme Unction

Um

Glaring Mistake

Walter Gates

Alternator

Bleeding Heart

Kindred Sports

Your Pussy is Black Magic Woman and I Got a Black Cat Bone

Steap It

no kelture. none.

the hallway

gone mad

Can’t Remember

Bedroom Eyes

By 1974

Heavy Traffic

Precipice

38 Specials

Dreamcatcher

sun & oildolatry

back to more cereal matters

soggy pretzels ash trays & diet soda

It Was Inevitable

the Black Woods & the House

You Gonna do WHAT !!!

Distraction Camps

Itinerant Jig

Repositioning

autonomous credulity

Stick a Sword in Me

Hallucinating Sundown

The Movie The Novel & The Dream

the World is a Ghost Town

a compendium of excuse

heavy on the potential fadda

ablfore dano

the last lunch

another version of the story

the Women and Dirty John

early morning in the loft

the last pole in Kentucky

mark in the kitchen

wing man

entrepreneur convention

happy hour

Antigone and Company

One Step Away

Three Ring Circus

kick start the mutha

self damnation

Sitting. in Paris.

in circles

ob jec ti fy objectify

highly unlikely

Ziggy’s Follies

Bedroom Eyes

By 1974

Heavy Traffic

Precipice

Pressure Plate

Doll House

swimming

Friday’s for Buttercup

Pig Dance

The Old Man and the Ski Pole

voices beneath the window

the Big Game

Azer bai jan

Lust and Love and Scurvy

Fredrik

pretty cool

the future

the other side of the looking glass

the world’s a busy place

the bar the roast beef sandwich the diner

the concert hall

tree shaking in foul territory

do it. before it can’t be done

uniquely human fantasy

the one without legs

the nap

when the machine breaks down

the only show on earth

outhouse shit house rats

bank shot side pocket

betty lou … peggy sue … suzi q

The Town Criers

mr. foible rides again

out of the belfry

under the influence

the iceman has left the tool shed

sit down. mable.

on the lost track

orgonasmism

one in every crowd.

throw the dirt

lightning out. the bottle.

the lead

stranger than friction

pictures in the dark

of no value

eggo centric

the heavens. they are pissed.

fallow

puppet show

dormant

the bullshit factory

father factotum

beginning to remember nothing

the franchiser

the company store

what mapped this shit out

death. yes.

still. well. & ever.

cerveza cabeza

it always is. if not are.

the dirty ass factor

amorphous landscaping, inc.

no prisoners no names no shit

scramble’d

chronic cranial diarrhea

Operose

Dressing Room

the bohemian haunt

pull that thread

what about the blue tent

caveat emptor

bilingual

the bullshit season

caricature

key word

another parallelogram gone bad

1st the shit

the shit goes on

ain’t nothing but

the hotness

in progress

at the party

the Coltrane of Canvas

the beginning of another end

so now its yesterday

captain petard in charge

juxtopia

is it safe

The Old Man and the Ski Pole

voices beneath the window

swimming

a few 10ths of microns

Interview with God

the Women and Dirty John

early morning in the loft

the last pole in Kentucky

Antigone and company

Find what you love and let it kill you.

Really Special Event

Sidewinder

Blast and Baffle

Highjack’d From the World

Michigan

Unequivocal in Nature

the fish are swimming

Take it From the Top

The Last Apothecary

Chamber of Silence

1st Grade Reader

a Commerce of Vision

All Things Good

Aluminum Windmills

Another Stinking Kettle

As Is

Azer bai jan

big Lightning big Thunder

biographical notes

bird on the wire

Blue Wail

Coffee w/ extra Cream

Disembodied Image Slam

Djibouti

Don’t Ask Jim

Fever at Six Teen

Fumbling Fun Machine

He Cried

Herringbone hair

Joanne Gorman Klein

Lawyers Guns and Money

Two Hands on Deck

No Misunderstanding

The Lost Sundial

In the Turret

prodigal son

in every coal bin in every cellar

Fuck Sack

Bonnie Bhadelia

Every Man

Lurking In The Shadows

Healthy Brain ?

Stealing

a Wilderness of Mirrors

The Recurring House

Frieda and Diego

the Spitball and the Submarine

an Ode to Everyone with Eyeballs

Leadership Conference of Unusual Fruits

Dr. Phishook’s Recent Schmooze

Total Lack of Penitence

The Occasional Voyage to the Avenue

Till It Be Morrow

Queen of the Boards

Also by Al Ferber

THE FALL

Gus said he experienced the fall

the complete collapse of him

the autumn of 1970

wheels came off

windshield shattered into crystals

rear view mirror cracked back

window popped out spare tire

went flat

in the trunk

transmission slipped gears into

overdrive

water pump n radiator vomited

on the highway brakes quit

engine blowed up in flames whole

wreck jumped tracks

n into a hole in the earth

with no desire to hit the brakes

SUN SEEN THROUGH TREE

Gus said one bright summer

afternoon

he sat in the inviting grass

to take a snooze

in the shade of the branches

n leaves of a big old lazy

oak tree

snoozed n snored loud enough

to make car windows shake

but so relaxed his heart almost

went completely still

n when he came-to he seen

the sun alternately in the space

between the shadows

of leaves n branches

n when moved his head ever

so slightly n blinked his eyes

the sun provided

an unexpected strobe effect

that stuck in his eyes

for hours n years after that

GLOBE LAMP,

RADIATOR, BALLERINA,

N BABY CARRIAGE

Gus said it was a portrait

of melancholy desperation along

one wall of a deserted room

a globe lamp an old wooden table

the lamp looking good as new

a rusted radiator that’d

seen better days

a painting of a tired ballet dancer

in a near state of collapse hung

against what appeared to be

perfectly good diamond floral

design wallpaper

a looking brand new black

big wheeled baby carriage

n on the floor this side

of an open hallway door

the accumulated dust n dirt