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At this point, having tried to collect my thoughts but not finding enough time to organize them,, I'm so late that all I can do is cheer the poem on. It's a squirrelly delight. I am there at the end of the bar, defeated, having been baffled by their ingenuity, their tenacity, their exasperating determination.
Notes
- I'll admit that my initial reading missed the point. I kept searching for something more tragic, more significant. So imagine my surprise upon further readings when the poem revealed itself as being a two-headed metaphor. (Squirrels are a fascinating.)
- The poem is something of a Trojan horse. I laughed with glee at Nemo’s visceral squirrel-like reaction to the poem (#2). He sensed the skittish movement of the phrasing and felt the heaviness of the metaphor. He saw the poem within a poem. Crack it open and you get another. Two for one.
- I love how the patrons that populate the bar resemble a crowd that Charles Bukowski or Tom Waits would feel at home with.
- Did you know that squirrels are accidental tree planters? There’s research/evidence that squirrels can’t find the majority of the nuts they bury. As a result, those nuts that remain unfound grow into trees. That’s good for the birds.
Skillful squirrel-like language. The poem is a prize!
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