The Life and Times of an Extra Arm

they didn't tell me much
about my duties on the ranch

I felt like
I'd have to play it by ear
let the time slip by
like a pat of butter
on a real hot knife
an oil slick

going out ot sea

What I brought to the table
what I brought to the job
was my fake arm.

this limb that's capable
of subbing in
when the real one has
an engagement
in another town
in another place

you gotta listen to me

I'll tell you about
this here stand in.

When I want to be
someone else
when I want
to think like DaVinci
or paint
like Francis Bacon

I got this arm
and it does the work
of two people

when I want to be
less than serious
this Vishnu arm
comes onto the scene
making gestures obscene
at them sacred cattle.

you gotta listen to me
I page through
my greatest works
and consider them
with the greatest concern

but I blame it all
on the other limb

after all
what's an artist
without a pseudonym
without a hand
that never
needs washing.

On the ranch
it's day in-day out
roping, branding
stringing wire for
the fences I build
that keep me here
on this dusty little patio

it's so easy to see
where my next step
should fall
already marked
in the yellow dust

Half the time
I don't need
my extra,
my alias

I've cut this
wide open prairie
down to size

familiarity
keeps these landscapes
looking similar
pretty much

When I die
they'll come across
this thing
wrapped in a blanket
and in wonder
call it
a prosthesis
a mystery
without an owner

but I know this
to be a miracle
how I won the west

nylon elbow
and plastic six gun
in latex hand