Detour into Oroville


mn :: poetry

The naked man's name was Ishi-the-last-Yahi, the Professor later announced.

But first there was the language to identify and learn from Berkeley's library.

This prison bench is made of oak, they established, and the newsmen ran.

In Arizona an accidentally dead man rolled out of a nice car onto the dirt.

The hitchhiker knew that he'd go to jail for it, and probably get the chair.

What could Roberts do? Innocent but unlucky, he hid the corpse and drove.

And the hitchhiker drove until he met the wrong woman -- had to kill her,

because you see she knew all about the dead man and said that she would tell.

Now he really is a killer on the run, and he'll never see his girl Sue again.

Then there is the scene in which Ishi is giving the last rites to the last Yahi, walking

away from their bodies and thinking what now? because there is no last thing,

not while most of you is thinking about rabbit stew or a hot plate of flapjacks

and so Roberts curses at a trucker for playing Sue's song on the jukebox,

but all he had come there for was a hot cup of joe and a stool at the counter.

Kroeber wrote that Ishi was committing suicide the best way that he knew how,

walking down the main street of the town that had murdered everyone else

then takes modest credit for the eight years of running water and good beef

that he gave to some one named Ishi-the-last-Yahi that never knew any Sue.

Last modified: Oct 24, 2008 2:28 pm. Contact me.