Lickety Split Poem by Anne Higgins

Lickety Split



I drank the whole bottle
but it is still there
green glassy empty

Disappeared shrimp.

The bottom feeders who are they
and what skims their skins
in the silent miles down?

Music floated out an open window
calling stop the tide
stop the tide.
Thin scrim oil floated in an open window.

Herons and egrets we regret.

Dig a well at the bottom of the Gulf
so that we will have gas for our cars
so that we can get to where we're going
lickety split
whenever we want.
Then you will see what will happen
said the old woman.