Bulls Bard--The Verses
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Uncle Marvin

3/22/2017

3 Comments

 

In grateful memory of the architect Jerry Krause. Rest in peace.

Uncle Marvin.
Wasn’t my actual uncle.

He was the second husband
Of a second cousin,
Or somethin’.

He was only around
A little while
When I was just
A little child.

Uncle Marvin owned a toy store.

He did card tricks
And pulled silver dollars from ears.

And when we’d go to his house
We’d leave a little richer.

A wind-up dinosaur
That shot sparks from its mouth.

A rip cord motorcycle.

A superball.

One time,
He took me aside:

Come ‘ere, Danny,
I wanna talk to you.

Alright,
I’ve got a deal for you--
The deal of a lifetime.

You paying attention?
You gotta pay attention.
That’s the key.

Now,
I’m gonna give you ten thousand dollars cash--
Right here, right now--

And alls you gotta do is
Not think about a hippopotamus
For five seconds.

GO!


I have never known five longer seconds.
He counted them out loud.

One.

Hippopotamus.
Hippopotamus.

It was all I could see in my head.

Hippopotamus.
It’s the same one I can see right now.
Hippopotamus.

Damn it.

Two.

Well,
I can lie.

How would he know?
He can’t possibly know, right?
I mean, he’s not a mind-reader.

He can’t be a mind-reader.

Mind-reading is just a trick--

That’s what my dad always says
When Uncle Shel does it
At parties.

Hippopotamus.
Fuck!
Hippopotamus.

Three.

Maybe I can think about something else--
I’ll think about an octopus.
Maybe then I could stop thinking about this fucking
Hippopotamus.

Hippopotamus.

Hippopotamus.

Hippopotamus.
Hippopotamus.
Hippopotamus.

Four.

Octopus.
Octopus.
Octopus.
Octopus.
Octopus.

Man,
I’m doing pretty good.
I haven’t thought about that
Octopus
This whole time.

Heeeey,
Did you see that?
I thought octopus
Instead of hippopotamus.

Hippopotamus.

Hippopotamus.
Hippopotamus.

Five.

Uncle Marvin looked at me
And smiled.

And waited.

And I thought about lying to him
And getting my money,

But there was something about the look on his face--
In his eyes--
In his smile--
That told me
Don’t.

That this was a guy with tricks up his sleeve.

So I told the truth.

I couldn’t do it.

He laughed his big-bellied laugh
And patted my little boy back
As if it were a man’s.

I know, kid.
I know.

And we headed back to join the group.

And that night
I left not just richer,
But wiser--

Two Hot Wheels in my pocket
And a hippo in my head.

Bulls Bard Volume I: The Final Chapter

3 Comments

Game 1

10/28/2016

2 Comments

 

​CHI 105               BOS 99

Some people
Put on costumes.

And become somebody new.

But not me.

I am the same guy--
​

Just wearing a costume.

​Hoops Haiku

I guess you can say
we are all wearing costumes--
Dressing as our selves

It used to feel like
The first game of the year was
Always halloween
2 Comments

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    Poet laureate of the Chicago Bulls

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