03-15-2024, 03:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2024, 11:02 PM by TranquillityBase.)
I was a penniless prospector
out of St. Louis
when I felt the Sioux warrior
plant his knee on my back
then gripping my hair
the sharp slice round my cranium
and the plopping sound
as he ripped my scalp free.
I lived, tried farming and failed.
My head bought me drinks
but nothing else
until Pearson’s Carnival came to town.
Now I sit inside a tent
beneath a powerful lantern.
I tell my story, take off my hat
to scattered gasps, the occasional shriek.
Women close their eyes, children stare,
but the men seem embarrassed.
For a nickel they can come up and look
for a dime, give it a rub.
Sometimes, I make $10 in a day.
I smoke good cigars
drink premium whiskey
and women are not out of reach,
all this good fortune
inherited from a savage.
I do wonder about my scalp,
how does it fare?
I’ve read they dance it welcome
the warriors in a circle,
in the center, young girls
holding the bloody trophies aloft,
and now it’s riding free on the plains.
Not a bad turnout for either of us.
out of St. Louis
when I felt the Sioux warrior
plant his knee on my back
then gripping my hair
the sharp slice round my cranium
and the plopping sound
as he ripped my scalp free.
I lived, tried farming and failed.
My head bought me drinks
but nothing else
until Pearson’s Carnival came to town.
Now I sit inside a tent
beneath a powerful lantern.
I tell my story, take off my hat
to scattered gasps, the occasional shriek.
Women close their eyes, children stare,
but the men seem embarrassed.
For a nickel they can come up and look
for a dime, give it a rub.
Sometimes, I make $10 in a day.
I smoke good cigars
drink premium whiskey
and women are not out of reach,
all this good fortune
inherited from a savage.
I do wonder about my scalp,
how does it fare?
I’ve read they dance it welcome
the warriors in a circle,
in the center, young girls
holding the bloody trophies aloft,
and now it’s riding free on the plains.
Not a bad turnout for either of us.