Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Hand Jive


Hand Jive

Blind Bob:

Twitchy bee-bop, finger-snap, sheebam;
lookey here, Dude—
don’t give me no gang-jive,
or that flying bird one-finger salute,
or mystic palm readings
or even clever Ameslan—
no, no, no—
for right now, right here
I really need the full doctor talk
all about my carpels and tunnels
nails and quicks, creases and joints,
cuz my hands don’t strum
those six-bitch strings,
or work that metal slide
like they supposed to, man.

Doctor Roberts:

No problem, sir, I can spout that
terminology to your complete
and bluest satisfaction—guaranteed.

Blind Bob:

Dig it, Doc, four to the bar,
knock my chapeau off,
blow my argyles down,
fry my brain and plunge my drain,
and lay it down hard,
oh yeah!

Doctor Roberts:

I promise to check out both
the radial and ulmar borders,
massage your distal, proximal
and palmar phalanx, not disrespecting
those tender interphalangeals,
while gently stroking the Thenar.

Blind Bob:

Oopamow-wow, Bones, you got
my fingers walking
and my wrists jumping
into supination one,
or pronation too.

Doctor Roberts:

Talking ‘bout bones, Bob,
we gonna connect that pisiform
to the hamate, that triquetrun
to the capitates, that lunate
to the trapezoid, that scaphoid
to the trapezium, and then cap
it with a mighty melding of
the metacarpais to the phalanges!

Blind Bob:

You’re the coolest, man—
I feel better already.


Glenn Buttkus

May 2010

Listed as #125 over on dVerse Poets-OLN 29

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?

9 comments:

Judy Mauer said...

LOL. You have been studying your anatomy!

Judy

S.E.Ingraham said...

ahaha - Grey's Anatomy lives ... this was a flat-out hoot ... well done

Brian Miller said...

ha great dialogue in this glenn...this one is def a wild ride but a smart write as well...

where did you have this hidden? i looked for a bit after i saw your tweet but could not find it...

Glenn Buttkus said...

Must have had the URL transcribed wrong.

Laurie Kolp said...

I'm not sure what he's going to look like in the end, but at least he can't see the results.

Stuart McPherson said...

Glenn- your a bluesman. Really enjoyed this- very lyrical with great energy. Very unique stylistically which makes it stand out. This was one of those poems where I was racing to get to the next line and smiling all the way. Good job

Tashtoo said...

Dig it, man! Dig it! I dare say this might be the coolest word weave EVER about anatomy...got that awesome vibe happening ;)

Mark Butkus said...

I am just imagining the fun you had in composing this piece. This rocks!
Cheers,
Mark Butkus

Claudia said...

ha..love the energy and bluesy feel in this..and just learned a couple of new words...smiles
fine write glenn