Subject: Ways of Looking
From: citycabn (citycabn@gateway.net)
Date: Wed Feb 09 2000 - 19:32:10 EST
Below is the revised, enlarged version of a September post.
--Bruce
THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BANANAFISH
(With apologies to Wallace Stevens and his blackbird)
for Will
I.
Among four J.D. Salinger books,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of a bananafish.
II.
I was of three minds,
As I read the posts
Of three bananafishes.
III.
An isolated reader subscribes;
Now part of the bananafish pantomime.
IV.
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a bananafish
Are an odd sight.
V.
I do not know which
of the million-plus interpretations of
"A Perfect Day for Bananafish"
to prefer.
VI.
The shadows of a hunting hat,
A Davega bicycle, a kimono,
A tangerine and a bananafish
Fall across the monitor.
VII.
O thin men of Academia,
Why do you imagine what the author has not?
Do you not see angry bananafishes
Swarming near your offices?
VIII.
I know it’s only fiction,
But Seymour and his bananafish
Are Supreme Fiction.
IX.
When the bananafish swam out of sight,
Water clapped hands with water.
X.
At the sight of the bananafishes
In a food fight,
Tim would moderate judiciously.
XI.
In a glass boat,
Salinger sails his imagination.
Once, a fear pierced him,
That he was being followed
By bananafishes.
XII.
The pages of the last book are done.
The bananafish begins rereading.
XIII.
Across continents,
It is morning, afternoon, evening and tomorrow:
Bananafishes log on.
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