Fill a soup spoon with salt
& lower it into the Atlantic
singing: Dance, sailor,
dance with your captain,
your head’s too heavy,
your body’s too thin.
When the salt is gone
say in a loud voice
Are you thirsty now?
& wait for a gull to say Yes.
Walk backwards so
the incoming tide can’t follow
your footsteps home.
Repeat daily.
If banjos persist,
see a licensed hoodoo man.
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Catskin Banjo (videopoem)
- Medicine Show (videopoem)
- Shackleton’s Banjo (videopoem)
- The Banjo Apocalypse (videopoem)
- The Silent Banjo (videopoem)
- How Jefferson Heard Banjar (videopoem)
- Banjo vs. Guitar and Out of Tune (videopoems)
- Luck (videopoem)
- Banjo Origins (3): Jesusland
- The Fifth String (videopoem)
- Banjo Proverbs (videopoem)
- The Banjo Apocalypse
- Medicine Show (1)
- How Jefferson Heard Banjar
- Catskin Banjo
- The Dueling Banjo
- Medicine Show (2)
- Open-Backed Banjo
- Banjo vs. Guitar
- Banjo Origins (1): The American Instrument
- Luck
- Medicine Show (3)
- Banjo Proverbs
- Banjo Origins (2): The Fifth String
- Medicine Show (4): A Spell to Ward Off Banjos
- The Silent Banjo
- Sugar Baby
- Banjo Origins (3): Jesusland
- Medicine Show (5): Shackleton’s Banjo
- Where Bluegrass Comes From
- Becoming Banjo
- The Fretless Banjo
- Out of Tune
- Ohio man accused of killing wife with banjos
This is GREAT!!! I’ve been reciting it to get it properly memorised and in my head. But I can still hear the banjo music. I think it’s coming to get me!
Wow, I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic about it! I was just writing it to amuse myself — not sure it would be anyone else’s cup of tea.
Love this, Dave.
Thanks, Beth.
Oo, man, this better work, because if it doesn’t those banjos are going to be pissed!
Just don’t get caught in a Dueling Banjos crossfire and you’ll probably be all right.
sigh…. it’s so hard to make friends
You’re a good man, Charlie Brown. Everyone likes you and your cigar-box banjo, really!
This is fun; I like it. I love the idea of licensed magicians. Of course, now that I think of it I wonder if they do need licenses to perform in some states.
Well, I have run across some official-sounding accreditation boards for readers, rootworkers and the like.