Poem

Dear Sasquatch

Chris Gilpin

Previously published in Poetry Is Dead, Issue #1

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Dear Sasquatch

Stop avoid­ing me
I know
you know
I know

you’re out there
You know
I know
you know that
 
Sasquatch
 
Since you’ve been gone
My house­plants have been giv­ing me the silent treat­ment
& my heart­strings all have fallen out of tune
 
Since you’ve been gone
The pos­ture of my penis is just one more eco­nomic indi­ca­tor
with which to mea­sure the health of the nation
 
Shit! since you’ve been gone
White peo­ple are get­ting whiter
My balls are get­ting bluer
& the 2010 Olympics are mur­der­ing your good name
 
They’ve cuti­fied you
into Quatchi
Teletubby of the British Columbian for­est
who wears ear muffs
falls over eas­ily
& squeaks “Shop with Quatchi”
 
But con­tempt is too easy
 
I know
you know
I’ve sensed you
out there
Standing in line at London Drugs
try­ing to buy a crimper and some scrunchies
while every­one looks the other way
except for the cashier
who looks straight through you
 
Sweet, noble Sasquatch
Contempt is too easy
Come back to me!
I won’t apol­o­gize for the time I called your sis­ter abominable
 
But each night
I will phone Grouse moun­tain
ask­ing them to blink out a morse code I Miss You
with their ski hill flood lights
Start a for­est fire near Whistler if you feel the same
 
I have biked down count­less alley­ways
try­ing to read the cal­lig­ra­phy in the con­crete
for direc­tions to your church of the invisible
 
Bring me your shabby bible
with its tissue-thin pages
I will build us a home
 
I worry though
I worry that you’re right here
& I’m just not look­ing
qui­etly enough to see you
 
I’m like the back­seat brat on a cross-country drive
con­stantly ask­ing
“Are we there Yeti? Are we there Yeti?”
with­out ever look­ing out the window
 
Dear Sasquatch
 
I have no address for you
So I’m read­ing this open let­ter at open mics
I know it will reach you
eventually
 
You’re the kind of crea­ture
who comes to events
like these
& sits in the cor­ner writ­ing con­fes­sional poetry
 
Sasquatch
 
If you’re here
Please
stand up
 

& tell us
your story

 

Chris Gilpin Performs Dear Sasquatch Live:

Chris Gilpin has been a two-time mem­ber of the Vancouver Poetry Slam Team (2008 & 2009), the runner-up in the 2008 Vancouver Individual Poetry Slam com­pe­ti­tion, the cham­pion of Vancouver’s 2008 Haiku Death Match, and win­ner of the Vancouver’s 2009 CBC Poetry Face-off.

1 Comments

Anonymous

18 Jun 2010
Thank gawd ~ real humour through poetry. Great job! ...does it take a 'two-timer' who can 'runner up' and 'champion' a 'winner' to get this far?

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