Gumball Poetry - Poetry by Fred Giacomino

Fred Giacomino

The Drive Home

The mountain lion appears, his flanks rippling
with each discount stride as he travels
down Main Street with economy in his eyes,
the remote red in his throat and its unlimited sound.

He crouches behind the ATM during
their lunch breaks and budgets their bodies
like menu items at the family restaurant.

But where is pedestrian terror when the cat spots
them in the bakery and delicatessen?
Do they see his advertisement for death;
his teeth's red gleam beside the stop light?

Perhaps they would notice if he lay
down in billboards and marquees,
or become union with electric signs.

Instead the cougar disregards crosswalks,
lumbers into traffic near the bar and casino,
and paces against roaring horns.

The beast follows the bumper stickers,
"Live simply so that others may simply live,"
as they drive to their work or their homes,
kneading his sickle claws into tires.

Wearied of the play, the lion glides
his glassy eye toward the pawn shop and focuses
on the sanguine cloth of someone's tie.

And after the kill, he settles and licks
the taste from his paws of jewelry, guns, and loans.

Fred Giacomino is originally from Butte, Montana and is a recent graduate from the creative writing program at the University of Montana in Missoula. See his poem, Rib Cage, also in this issue. This is his first time in print. Read more of Fred's work at his website.

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7.12.2000
wordless from Houston

It's not what SHOULD happen at the end of a poem???
What a narrow thought.
Tell me, what are the unbreakable rules for endings? I'm sure there are some standards to go by, but someone at the bottom seems to be trapped in the useless outrage of opinion. If you did break the unheardof rule for ending a poem, I applaud you. Very well done. Your accomplishment is not in writing SHOULDS, but in compelling others to graduate and free themselves from the dead end schools of common thought.

7.01.2000
jo neace krause (Bjobert@aol.com) from weston w.va.

really liked it, hit a spot that needed shooting
I love the last line, a poem without a good ending fails for me. It has grace, dignity, and anger. That's all folks.

5.31.2000
Minh (ducsinh@yahoo.com) from Rochester, NY

Agree with Bangert
The main problem with the imagery of the supposedly dangerous animal is that the poet uses four different names for this animal: mountain lion, cat, cougar and lion. Of course, I was confused when he kept switching animals on me. The underlying theme is easy enough to get, but the connection between imagery and message is shady. Pick one and stay with it. Also, I don't particularly fear mountain lions, cougars, cats or lions. I think they're beautiful in their wilderness and attempting to set them in an urban setting is a bit contrived. Anyway, I agree with Bangert's sentiment.

5.24.2000
Ron Prawa from Philadelphia, PA

Greed.
This is a great poem. For the guy below, if you don't get it, there's no reason to pan it. You only show the world your limited grasp of poetry. The mountain lion is about greed, economics, this is the walk of hunger, the hungering for objects, this is capitalism at work on the hearts of people, and done so with incredible imagery. I loved it.