Catching up with Catfish McDaris. (Note: Content Warning)

Photograph taken by Ray in Manila in 1984

It's been a while since I published any of Catfish McDaris' work here, so tonight is your chance to catch up with him.  Sniper is his current main character.  Quick shows up as well tonight.  

Mount Kilimanjaro

The orange moon hung upside down

over the Giraffe Mountains of Tanzania,

Sniper gazed at the long necked beauties

he would protect these animals with all

he had, he hadn’t missed a shot in his

Entire life, point and pull the trigger, don’t

even think about aiming, the weapon no

matter what it is, will do its job, if properly

Cared for, Sniper never let the ladies get

too close they obstructed his freedom and

it was a ball and chain he repudiated

When Sniper saw poachers he shot their

rifles and pistols, to discourage hunting

out of season, he was an animal protector

of the vast Serengeti desert and forest. 

The Man That Brought a Singing 

Fat Lady and a Violin to a Gunfight

Of all that is written I only love what is written in blood. Nietzsche

Surrounded by dead guardian angels

listening to: The Mephistopheles of

Los Angeles by Marilyn Manson

Warming hands and face above a hell

fire in a 55-gallon barrel dreaming of

dancing with a senorita in Guadalajara

Palm trees figs and dates in Damascus

driving Thunderbirds through a sequoia

and zebras and swallowtails in the Mojave

Shackled by my years, gravity sucking

my energy, the sky, and ceilings piss

on my head, the walls yawn in boredom,

Nobody laughs at the ugly mirror, guns

mean noise and chaos, death should be up

close and personal with a lovely serenade.

Photograph from woodleywonderworks

 

Martha’s Recipe for Skunk

Martha Stewart had a huge basket

of multi-colored eggs, she said she’d

gathered fifty-eight in one night

I watched her on TV as she beat and

blended a cake, she used at least one

unusual word per recipe, Martha still

Looked fine, even as she aged, she was

a model and had a sleek foxy appearance,

I’d never had any sexual fantasies about her

A lady friend from Kentucky wrote on

Facebook, that a varmint had killed one

of her chickens and eaten all of her eggs

I recommended a flamethrower and bbq

sauce, someone said Martha’s cookbook

held as many recipes as Noah’s ark.

Photograph by Adam Moss

Adobe, Peyote, and a 357 on Christmas

Willie came from the nasty streets,

the Santa Fe Railroad tracks divided

the village, whitey, brownie, blackie

.

Mostly ragged folks getting by,

most of the adobes were plastered,

but some mud clay blocks were exposed

.

Willie was my primo, he grew mota, okra,

chilies, peyote, magic mushrooms, and

grapes, we hung it to dry from the vigas

.

In the lemon-yellow sun of enchantment,

a vato came by to pull a rip off, I put a 357

in his ear and offered to cancel his Xmas.

Volley ball with the moth balls I’d heard

were a deterrent, soon I had holes and

tunnels and barking squirrels everywhere.

The Three Bears

A ferocious bear jumped out of a tree onto Quick’s shoulder, he was riding Brown Hand his Comanche horse. Quick tried to sling the bear off, but its claws were sunk into his shoulders. If the bear got its teeth into his neck, that would be all she wrote. Brown Hand bucked against a big fir tree and his dog, Killer a scrawny black mutt was able to distract the bear enough, so Quick could get to his knife. He had a long wicked razor sharp blade, he slipped into the bear’s mouth before it could make an omelet of his brains. Quick cut the bear open all the way down its chest, a wolverine jumped out of its guts. It tried to rape Killer, Quick pulled his hog leg and emptied 44’s into its eyeballs. There was a creek nearby, so he could get moss and medicinal plants for a poultice for their wounds. Quick was just happy Brown Hand and Killer weren’t injured too seriously. That night they ate bear and wolverine stew. Brown Hand had some grain and wild apples. Two days later, another bear leaped from a tree, Brown Hand must’ve smelled him. She reared her front hooves high into the air and knocked the bear into a swamp. Killer and Quick looked on as a herd of alligators swarmed that bear like angry cannibal flies. In moments it was just a pile of fur and blood. A week later they made it to the Porcupine Mountains and another bear leaped from a tree. Quick, Brown Hand, and Killer were tired of bears attacking. Quick was ready to murder this bear, when the bear started talking. It said, “Please kind sir don’t kill me, I am really a beautiful woman. A witch put a spell on me, turning me into a bear. If you kiss me I can turn back into a lady and I will grant you three wishes. Plus I’ll be your sex slave forever. What do say?” Quick thought why not. He kissed the bear and waited for the transformation. The bear changed into a blonde lady with sparkling blue eyes, but she kept growing and growing. Soon she was a giant, she bent down and crushed and swallowed Brown Hand, Killer, and Quick. Then she turned into an aardvark and disappeared into the forest.

Let's finish up with some music.  I'm going to go to a different place with some Ethiopian jazz.

This is saxophonist Getachew Mekuria with the Ex in 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGjfQ8CIjQ

Tezeta means nostalgia:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dk4pjTbJEw

Next is Mekuria's "Aha Gedawo": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSt7bqYGWAk

This is his "Akale Wube": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wajUfM0OEIg

Catfish sent me some blues guitar for you to listen to as well, especially if this Ethiopian jazz is too harsh.

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram plays "Empty Promises" live.  He also has a new album out on Alligator Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-nTAgOMK7w&feature=youtu.be

Gary Clark, Jr. plays "This Land" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KgNaRQ_J-c&feature=youtu.be 

Enjoy!