When
I was a teenager, I owned all of Brautigan’s books. I thought he was great. His
poems reflected what he was, a sixties poet from the working class. Critics
have really pounced on him in recent
years finding his work childish and simplistic. And their right but that’s the
entire point of his writing. Sort of a “Poet about nothing”
Your Catfish Friend
Richard Brautigan
If
I were to live my life
in
catfish forms
in
scaffolds of skin and whiskers
at
the bottom of a pond
and
you were to come by
one evening
when
the moon was shining
down
into my dark home
and
stand there at the edge
of my affection
and
think, “It’s beautiful
here
by this pond. I wish
somebody loved me,”
I’d
love you and be your catfish
friend
and drive such lonely
thoughts
from your mind
and
suddenly you would be
at peace,
and
ask yourself, “I wonder
if
there are any catfish
in
this pond? It seems like
a
perfect place for them.”