Two Poems by Kennedy Gammage: Fritz, Stumbling Drunk through the Sierra

Two Poems
by Kennedy Gammage

Fritz

In my mind there is one unusual image
not the cold heavy body of the dead dog
but the slow progress of the herd of longhorn cattle
walking purposefully up the runway towards us
the lead steer staring us down
We were out that winter morning marking X’s
at either end of the runway where Soren died
closing it for reasons involving liability
using quicklime and a malfunctioning Sears garden spreader
when we found the missing dog, tawny
blending into the cold golden weeds and the hard ground
There was a clotted trickle of blood from his lip
and his brown eyes focused dully on the high clouds
“Fritz, we hardly knew ye,” said Alan
his breath fogging in the gauzy light
That would have been that, but for
the slow surreal pace of the longhorns
perhaps drawn to pay their last respects
We hopped in the car and drove off to get the shovels

Stumbling Drunk through the Sierra

Hiked out of Crescent Meadow with a bottle of Scoresby,
a can of Beernuts, a corkscrew and dental floss
on the High Sierra Trail - Started drinking heavily
past Panther Creek and passed out near Sevenmile Hill
Woke to a black bear with a yellow tag on his ear
licking my face – “Paugh!” I said, “Your breath stinks”
Whiskey all gone near Little Blue Dome -
ate half the nuts. When I got to Bearpaw Meadow
demanded more whiskey. All they had was Almaden
wine in a box. I filled up my Platypus and kept going
At Hamilton Creek Bridge I tipped over backwards
trying to take a picture with my iPhone -
fell about 90 feet, broke three toes and bruised my femur
Kept going
Near Precipice Lake I thought of Ansel Adams
while I ate the rest of my nuts - very hungover
Crawled about 40 miles to the top of Mt. Whitney
Got dizzy and fell off. Gave myself about 300
stitches using the corkscrew and dental floss
Kept going
In Lone Pine I bought more Scoresby and Beernuts
Hitched a ride to Mono Lake

-to be continued-

Kennedy Gammage has an English degree from U.C. Berkeley. He resides in San Diego, and his personal website is www.travelogorrhea.com. He has been published in SN Review, A Café in Space, DEUS LOCI, and The San Diego Poetry Annual.

Copyright 2014, © Kennedy Gammage. This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.