IF you agree no harm's done
retelling old tales,

hear this: I was out
for a stroll and met

the President's wife and
the Senator's too. They greeted

me civilly and seeing a chance
I answered only garbage syllables

in grunts. Said the Senator's wife
to the Governor's: he's the one,

obviously a mute, let's
take him home and fuck the shoes

off him, he'll
never tell

Christ they fed me well
in warm quarters, just us three there,

and said the Reverend's wife to the Councilman's:
in case this oaf only pretends

to be dumb, let's put a test.
Get the cat and we'll find the truth

At their command I undressed
and in came the gray monster,

they lifted him to my back and yanked
his tail and that son of a pussy

raked my flesh like whips. I bled
but would sooner have died than spoken.

So, said the Queen to her Lady-In-Waiting,
he's ours. And they bathed me

in bubbles and sweet scent and I spent eight
days there screwing all the time

a thousand eight hundred eighty eight
times I screwed them

what trouble it has given me.

(Previously published in Street Magazine.)