1 2 YUKON GOLD (Poemes de Terre) Collected Poems 1971-2009 Mike Finley 3 Copyright © 2009 by Kraken Press 4 Table of Contents Cosmetic Dentistry.............................................................16 Truck Stop...........................................................................18 Haircut................................................................................19 The Eyed Eclair .................................................................20 In the Hot Springs Parking Lot...........................................21 The Movie Under the Blindfold.........................................22 Truth Never Frightens ........................................................23 Nighttime At The Christian Retreat....................................25 Fever...................................................................................27 The Art of Negotiation........................................................28 Bells Are Ringing...............................................................29 Ghost ..................................................................................30 Pathetic Fallacy...................................................................31 Empty Jug...........................................................................32 Your Human Being.............................................................33 A Compact..........................................................................34 The Important Thing...........................................................35 The Heart Sings a Song about Blood..................................36 We Made Up Our Mind......................................................37 The Iliad..............................................................................38 Voznesenski & Yevtushenko...............................................40 In Ely..................................................................................42 Bath.....................................................................................44 The Rapture........................................................................45 It Laid Down Its Life..........................................................46 Dead Bee on a Book by Philip Roth...................................47 The Heighth of the Drouth..................................................48 The Sugar House.................................................................49 Disavowal...........................................................................50 Prayer in Defiance of Grief.................................................51 Prayer For Resilience..........................................................52 Prayer for Foolishness........................................................53 5 The Dogs of Madison Square.............................................54 Beauty and Wisdom............................................................56 Liking and Loving..............................................................57 Prayer for the Reordering of History..................................58 Writers................................................................................59 Prayer for Poets..................................................................61 Stooping to Pick Up a Pill..................................................62 The Lazarus Cheese............................................................63 The Monster........................................................................65 Cottonwood........................................................................67 Patty Canney.......................................................................68 Soul.....................................................................................69 Yes!.....................................................................................70 The Blind............................................................................72 Drunken Houseguest...........................................................74 Old Man Mountain Climbing.............................................75 Little Bighorn.....................................................................76 Alien Abduction..................................................................81 Last Year's Xmas Dance.....................................................82 Prayer at Planting Time......................................................83 The Gift...............................................................................84 Inoperative..........................................................................85 Jacob the Crow...................................................................86 Fishflies..............................................................................88 My Mom.............................................................................89 Minnesotan in New York....................................................91 First College Roommate.....................................................92 Bottlework..........................................................................93 Rude Country......................................................................94 At the Koin-O-Kleen..........................................................95 Landlord ..................................................96 Living Without Friends.......................................................97 Lullabye..............................................................................98 Rachel the Student .............................................................99 6 The soul is judge and doctor.............................................100 When You Are Pope..........................................................101 The Audience....................................................................104 I Saw a Deer, Now I Must Write a Poem..........................105 To His Missus Returned from the Sea..............................107 Icky...................................................................................108 The Stink...........................................................................109 Renunciation.....................................................................110 Understanding Frankenstein.............................................111 Full Up..............................................................................112 A Senator Concedes..........................................................113 I, Gilgamesh......................................................................114 A Short Song to the Stars..................................................115 Something Not Heard Until Spoken.................................116 The Beagles of Arkansas...................................................117 Dog in the Manger............................................................118 Browsers...........................................................................119 When the Soul Is Young It Knows Everything.................120 The Dance Of The Dog ...................................................121 The Master's Hand............................................................123 Desalinization...................................................................124 Not Everyone Can Claim a Soul.......................................125 Boy Pee.............................................................................126 The Soul Is Annoyed by Your Fidgeting..........................127 Butts..................................................................................128 Vicissitudes.......................................................................129 Toggle ..............................................................................130 Is There NASCAR in Heaven?.........................................132 In a Tent............................................................................134 There's This Dog...............................................................136 The Jeffers Petroglyphs....................................................137 Reunion.............................................................................138 Midnight at the Mounds ...................................................139 Priests................................................................................140 7 Anton's Syndrome.............................................................141 The Life of Glass..............................................................143 Witnesses..........................................................................144 Rue Andre Barsacq...........................................................145 The Wild Man...................................................................146 Children............................................................................148 Perspective........................................................................149 In My Apartment..............................................................150 Horses Work Hard............................................................151 Stubbornness.....................................................................152 His Thirtieth Birthday Approaching, Manfred Steps on the Gas ................................................153 Dot's Cafe.........................................................................154 Craps ................................................................................155 California .........................................................................156 God Must Love Crazy People...........................................157