Richard Brautigan: Poems

Richard Brautigan

Thinking hard about you
I got on the bus
and paid 30 cents car fare
and asked the driver for two transfers
before discovering
that I was
alone.

A Boat

Richard Brautigan

A Boat

O beautiful
was the werewolf
in his evil forest.
We took him
to the carnival
and he started
crying
when he saw
the Ferris wheel.
Electric
green and red tears
flowed down
his furry cheeks.
He looked
like a boat
out on the dark
water.

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

Richard Brautigan

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammels and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

At the California Institute of Technology

Richard Brautigan

At the California Institute of Technology

I don't care how God-**** smart
these guys are: I'm bored.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY (POLISH IT LIKE A PIECE OF SILVER)

Richard Brautigan

AUTOBIOGRAPHY (POLISH IT LIKE A PIECE OF SILVER)

I am standing in the cemetery at Byrds, Texas.
What did Judy say? "God-forsaken is beautiful, too."
A very old man who has cancer on his face and takes
care of the cemetery, is raking a grave in such a
manner as to almost (polish it like a piece of silver

Boo, Forever

Richard Brautigan

Boo, Forever

Spinning like a ghost

on the bottom of a

top,

I'm haunted by all

the space that I

will live without

you.

Donner Party

Richard Brautigan

Donner Party

Forsaken, ******* in the cold,
eating each other, lost
runny noses,
complaining all the time
like so many
people
that we know

Gee, You're So Beautiful That It's Starting To Rain

Richard Brautigan

Gee, You're So Beautiful That It's Starting To Rain

Oh, Marcia,
I want your long blonde beauty
to be taught in high school,
so kids will learn that God
lives like music in the skin
and sounds like a sunshine harpsicord.
I want high school report cards
to look like this:

Haiku Ambulance

Richard Brautigan

Haiku Ambulance

A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?

It's Raining In Love

Richard Brautigan

It's Raining In Love

I don't know what it is,
but I distrust myself
when I start to like a girl
a lot.

— The End —