An American Folktale In Three Parts Poem by Perry Shepard

An American Folktale in Three Parts

The Pink Penguin on My Chest

There was a pink penguin
Swimming on my chest.
He would move in circles
Spinning tireless flappers
For hours on end, he got nowhere
But never failed to try.
He was ignorant of obstacles
Which he faced on the slick
Surface of my skin.
I wish that I had hairs
Covering my ribs
He might have gotten somewhere.




The Silk Purse
(An American Folktale Pt. II)

She once had a silk purse
To hold her coins in.
Once a week she'd bring
It out to place
New shiny coins into.
It got fatter and fatter.
Nothing was as pretty
As the plump silk purse.
One day it was so full
And plump she couldn't put
Anything into it.
It glistened in the sunlight
Teasing her, so
She took it to town
To buy some investments,
But the plump silk purse
Was so slick
It slipped from her fingers
And slid down the street
Into a dark manhole
Never to be found again.






Why did You Cry?
(An American Folktale Pt. III)

When I first saw the car
I wondered who made it go
And found you-
Describing the feelings you felt
During the time of hot weather.
We talked of the changes past
Us now. Why did you cry?
Is not my face still alive?
You told me I'm the same
And wept for my hypocrisy,
While I felt that with certainty
You was devouring me.
What you were really tasting
Was but my hull, not
The heart of my seed.
Now I see how it was
To you in that chance meeting.
I tried to wipe my thoughts
On my sleeve without the gold buttons.
Sometimes I am receptive-
Other times I'm not-
But I am an open book to you
Whose pages must have worn thin-
For you see right through me.
So don't pity me
As you make progress and walk
In the winters falling snow.
While your footsteps disturb
Its flight to a soft rest
The likes of me will be around
To pass the time away in
Icy moments while you try to nestle
Against the solitary leaning post
I become under the starry heavens.
You don't have to cry.