THE GREAT BIG BOOK OF FINLEY Mike Finley 1 THE GREAT BIG BOOK OF FINLEY Collected Poems, More or Less Mike Finley Kraken Press, 2016 2 Table of Contents Airline Food ................................................................... 22 Pandit ............................................................................ 22 Pluses and Minuses of the Suicide of a Child ................ 25 My People ..................................................................... 26 Bumper Stickers ............................................................ 27 Dust ............................................................................... 27 Hertz Doughnut ............................................................. 28 The Moment You Learn Life Will Keep Breaking Your Heart; 1958 ................................................................... 28 The Devil And Waldo Jeffers ......................................... 29 In the Checkout Line at Rainbow .................................. 30 Angel Still Guarding The Gate ....................................... 30 Found Poem: Millions Demand America's Purest Silver Dollar ............................................................................. 31 Bernal Diaz At Prayer Before The Massacre, Cholula, 1519 .............................................................................. 32 Grand Canyon ............................................................... 33 Star Trek Episode 80 Synopsis....................................... 33 ~The soul gets caught up .............................................. 34 The Stink........................................................................ 35 ~It laid down its life ....................................................... 35 My Disease .................................................................... 35 Room Under the Rock ................................................... 36 Envoi .............................................................................. 36 Eleven-Year-Old Boys Discussing Death ........................ 37 Poor Lanny .................................................................... 37 Flint ............................................................................... 38 Parade Of Homes .......................................................... 40 17 Years In The Life Of Cicada ....................................... 41 My Dog Lucy Eating Out the Seat Of My Underpants ... 42 Joseph and Jehovah ...................................................... 43 A Very Bright Day on Hammonasset Beach .................. 43 Sexual Reassignment .................................................... 44 3 Last Minneapolis Bear ................................................... 44 Plebiscite of the Grass ................................................... 45 Paraphrase .................................................................... 46 Game ............................................................................. 49 The Day ......................................................................... 49 Prayer in Defiance of Grief ............................................ 50 Prayer for the Reordering of History ............................ 50 Bigly ............................................................................... 51 Molly in the Door .......................................................... 51 Passing Through Nobles County on a Clear Day ........... 52 Biker Bob Canizzaro's Living Room Decor, 1977 ........... 53 The Angels of Gomorrah ............................................... 53 Miracle Ear .................................................................... 54 Horses Work Hard ......................................................... 55 Let’s Put Out The Sun .................................................... 55 In Passing ...................................................................... 56 Everything Dies But Nothing Goes Away ...................... 56 Minnesota State Fair ..................................................... 59 The Penguins Of Rio, 2011 ............................................ 59 The Idea of a Boat ......................................................... 60 A Compact ..................................................................... 60 Warning ......................................................................... 61 Freeport ........................................................................ 61 Cafe Extempore ............................................................. 63 When You Love Someone ............................................. 63 Third Happiest Moment ................................................ 64 The Poodle Who Wished to be a German Shepherd .... 67 Best Car Radio I Ever Had .............................................. 67 The Tissue ..................................................................... 68 The Life of Broken Glass ................................................ 69 The New Yorker ............................................................. 70 The Reading of Jack Kerouac’s Will ............................... 71 God Drives a Caterpillar D11 ......................................... 71 4 Two Single Mothers At the Anchorage Airport ............. 72 A Monk at the Door ...................................................... 73 The Wolf Shed ............................................................... 75 Slugs .............................................................................. 76 I Heard Her Call My Name ... ......................................... 76 Sleeping On My Hands .................................................. 77 The Nightime Tide On Lake Winnebegoshish Lists Its Complaints .................................................................... 78 The Brood ...................................................................... 78 In Tent ........................................................................... 79 The Art of the Deal ........................................................ 81 Love Song of the Louse ................................................. 81 The Iliad ......................................................................... 81 Hyperactive Landlord .................................................... 83 At The Koin-O-Kleen on Chicago Avenue ...................... 83 Rachel the Student ........................................................ 83 Live At The Astor Pavilion ............................................. 84 My Poor Fish … .............................................................. 85 The Man in the Air ........................................................ 85 Checklist ........................................................................ 86 Letter From Como (1976).............................................. 86 When You Are Pope ...................................................... 88 At Swanson Lake ........................................................... 92 God Told Me to Tell You to Cut Your Hair ..................... 93 Prayer for Refuge .......................................................... 94 Puff ................................................................................ 94 Picnic At Lascaux ........................................................... 95 The Kindly Cannon ........................................................ 96 L'abbaye de Les Abeilles ............................................... 96 At Fifty-Eight ................................................................. 97 God's Body .................................................................... 97 The Monster .................................................................. 98 Prayer for Poets ............................................................ 99 5 Stooping to Pick Up a Pill … ......................................... 100 Is There NASCAR in Heaven? ...................................... 101 Toggle .......................................................................... 101 Staples ......................................................................... 102 Aphorism ..................................................................... 103 Peggy Palmer .............................................................. 103 Five Thirty In The Morning .......................................... 104 Poetry Magazine Editors ............................................. 105 The Thing Writers Never Learn, Or Anyone Else For That Matter ......................................................................... 107 Storm ........................................................................... 108 In L.A. With George .................................................... 108 Transformer ................................................................ 110 Alongside Beggar’s Creek ............................................ 111 Stacked Up .................................................................. 111 Richard Fariña ............................................................. 112 Yes! .............................................................................. 113 For the Young Poets of Cleveland ............................... 114 Profound Imbecile ....................................................... 114 Opportunity Costs ....................................................... 115 Index Card Pinned to The Nungalvik Hotel Corkboard in Kotzebue. Alaska ......................................................... 116 Late August ................................................................. 116 The Man Who Thrived on Refusal .............................