This poem is a collaboration between Coyote and Michael Edwards
and is a re-write Coyote’s excellent original version
which he published recently here on MPS
I sat upon an old park bench
and I was unaware
of those who passed by as I spoke
to a guy who wasn’t there.
And as they passed they all gave me
a long and anxious stare
as I continued chatting to
the guy who wasn’t there.
Soon a policeman came along
and said: ‘Son come with me
you’re scaring all these people
with this guy you cannot see’.
‘I’ll take you to a special place
where you will get some care
to help with your obsession with
the guy who isn’t there’.
I said \'that’s okay officer
I’ll gladly come with you
but what about the folk each day
who sit upon a pew?’
‘You’ll find them in the local church
packed tightly like sardines
whilst talking to another guy
who’s also never seen’.
‘So wouldn’t it be prudent
and surely only fair
that you arrange some transport
for me and all those there’.
‘Then you can take us all away
and we can all compare
the things that we all chat about
with those who are not there’.