Somewhat Natural History
Cornell, 6/11
I
The Cornell viper
Hides in the long grass
Surrounding the observatory
Waiting
For some unwary alumnus or alumna
To bushwack
Up the darkened hill
It will strike
Evenomate
The only cure
Mud from the banks of the
Schukyll
Or the
And so
Beware
Beware
II
On
The water fowl proliferate
It could be worse
An influx of
Palin geese
Pulling at the grass
Leaving green droppings
On the path
Indelible stains
On the sole
Better those from
Better
By far
The
Lurks by the lake
It feasts on feral pigs
And freshmen
And grows
Prodigiously
It blends so well
In the surrounding scene
That is rarely seen
Until it pounces
Strangulates
It eschews
The flesh of graduates
And their espousal mates
Except on nights
When the moon on the wane
And other random dates
IV
The descendants of Old Tripod
Persists
Bless them,
Lyssenko
They are everywhere
In cafeterias
In classrooms
Even where they teach
Genetics
Where learned profs
State
That they should not exist at all
But they do
And that’s just fine with me
That’s what this country needs
More three-legged dog
To balance out
Fork-tongued politicians
That try to run
Our lives
V The Weredeer
A sorrowful tale
Of unrequited love
Some sweet young thing
From
Sorely compromised
By a Senior
From the Class of ‘61
She lurks
On nights
When the moon is full
And bites
Adulterers
And sucks their blood
They are doomed to wander
Aimlessly
Until redeemed
By the kiss of
Virgin lips
These days
It’s true
That virgins are quite scarce
One might
Just as well
Go searching for
The Golden Fleece
VIII
Blue damsel flies
Congregate on slender stems
Quietly
People congregate on
They jump
Create a splash
And talk endlessly about
How it was
Before and after
We row past
To the middle of the lake
And watch the damsel flies
IX
White lilacs
Persist in June
Such fragrance
O
Resist the call of
Summer
Profligate
At least another week
At least
Another week
X
There is
A new island
In
Hurry
Study that ecology
Before
Global warming
Changes
All
XI
At the
Forty two species of sparrows
Live nearby
Did you hear them call
The irises are blooming
Did you miss them
Wandering in tight circles
From Hall to Hall
There’s a universe
Just down the road
Forty two species of sparrows
Eight kinds of frogs
One toad
XII
Old red brick buildings
Bohemian Gothic
Like
Czech out
Ice age chasm
The earth
Thaws
The water
Roars
Barry Ivker