Trout Fishing in America

Today is Richard Brautigan's birthday and so, in honor of one of the founding fathers of my personality, here is his poem from page 70 of The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster:

Comets

There are comets
that flash through
our mouths wearing
the grace
of oceans and galaxies.

God knows,
we try to do the best
we can.

There are comets
connected to chemicals
that telescope
down our tongues
to burn out against
the air.

I know
we do.

There are comets
that laugh at us
from behind our teeth
wearing the clothes
of fish and birds.

We try.

"All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds." -RB