Wonderkid
Page 37
They’re sermonizing, theorizing why:
Why I cry—
Why I cry
The animals embarking!
But Noah isn’t arking.
Dogfish chasing oysters asking why;
Why I cry—
Why I cry
And it’s the kind of a question
That leads to suggestion
I’d like your discres-tion, my friends
The reason I’m crying
No question of lying
Is that this song has come to an end.
The Dog Mustn’t Speak!
Action, action, action,
Said the dog unto his faction.
The squiggles, curves—the skunk—was set
And now on: to bigger fish, he bet.
I bet! Let’s let the poodle’s posture employ,
inform, destroy, each thing. Be coy.
The dog mustn’t speak!
The dog mustn’t speak!
Not out of his nozzle
Or his toothy smiling beak,
The dog mustn’t speak!
His sweet slobber can clobber
As he spits and sparks
His sugared word-barks
Not a squeak!
The dog mustn’t speak!
Quickly, quickly, quickly
The skunk is smelling rather sickly.
Of course he is! He’s bad on purpose.
Uh-huh: his depth’s below the surface.
Believe. New reasons have a queer sound;
Whatever do you ask (you don’t) the deer hound.
Chorus
Should every single common canine
Have its precious special sunshine?
Stay back, stay back, stay back
The Pooch as bucks and bones distract,
(this to his own reflection, by the way)
though not a message, just a mess, to say—
(he reads) and just a second, at a glance—
It knows. I haven’t hooves and I can’t dance.
Chorus
The Second Pear Tree
Yes, come and climb the second pear tree.
Because it might in fact be where she
Has sat up high; she wandered clear once
Against the rain and rays. Appearance
Always suggests the way to go.
You think about it yes and no.
Determine whether acting won’t—
Will make things worse and don’t
Demand solutions drinkable:
Suppose a problem unthinkable.
Don’t hide beneath the hackberry bush
And though it might seem scary, push
Yourself and climb the second pear tree.
Yes, come and climb the second pear tree.
Because it might exactly be where she
Lives to this day; she flew there once
And made a bed of branches. Existence
Offered her a place to stay
Among the hedgehogs and their hay.
Regardless of the emphasis
We feel we need to ask you this
The overpass is underwhelming, no?
There is so much to run from. Where to go?
Don’t hide yourself inside the herd
And though it might seem scary, gird
Your loins and climb the second pear tree.
It could in fact
—it might—
Be where she isn’t.
Noon in June
Summer can, in trying to please,
Unsettle you by subtle degrees,
Painting your problems blacker. Freeze!
A noon in June implodes. You’re left,
You’re spent, you’re drained, gray matter bereft,
Perspective gone, horizon dimmed,
Your joie de vivre, stolen, skimmed
Summer will return so soon
One noon in June
One noon in June
Summer will return so soon
One noon in June
The spring she will, in different ways
Cost far more than kings can pay,
Their welcome on her throne outstayed
A day in May escapes. You’re right,
You’re up, you’re scuppered, gone the light
Italics in, Italians out
Reigns of doubt and rainbow trout
Spring, she will come back this way
One day in May
One day in May
Spring, she will come back this way
One day in May
Winter does produce its blues,
Auburns also in the fall
(The autumn oughtn’t call at all)
Seasons colder reason
Eggs us on to plots and treason
So let’s stop there
Two seasons, surely more than fair
Summer will return so soon
One noon in June
One noon in June
Summer will return so soon
One noon in June
Spring, she will come back this way
One day in May
One day in May
Spring, she will come back this way
One day in May
Chapter Titles
1. Ravi Shankar, The Concert for Bangladesh, 1971
2. Foghat, The Backstage, Seattle, 1996
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd, One More From The Road, 1976
4. The Beatles’ Rooftop Performance, London, 1969
5. Elvis Presley, ’68 Comeback Special, 1968
6. Lou Reed, The Bottom Line, New York City, 1979
7. Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick at Budokan, 1978
8. Woodstock Stage Announcement, 1969
9. Thin Lizzy, Live and Dangerous, 1978
10. Kiss, Alive II, 1977
11. Led Zeppelin, Felt Forum, New York City, 1973
12. The Sex Pistols, Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, 1978
13. Woodstock Stage Announcement, 1969
14. The Rolling Stones, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, 1970
15. Johnny Cash, At San Quentin, 1969
16. Bob Dylan, Olympia Theatre, Paris, 1966
17. Neil Young, Year of the Horse, 1996
18. The Beatles’ Royal Variety Performance, London, 1963
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Mark Krotov for a fantastic edit, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Kirby Kim at WME.
Many thanks to Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger, who helped give the Wonderkids words and songs worth singing; and to Tom Benson for his review.
And thanks also to the following, who lived this novel with me in some or other way: Adam Barker, Peter Barnes, Patrick Berkery, Joel Bernstein, Kurt Bloch, Jeff Bogle, Lisa Brown, Peter Buck, Eddie Carlson, Rosanne Cash, Ed Chauncy, Bill Childs, Joe Cohen, Glen Colson, Rick Danko, Martin Deeson, Tom de Waal, Glenn Dicker, Adam Gold, David Grand, Daniel Handler, James Healey, Levon Helm, Dan Hicks, Mark Hoyt, Garth Hudson, Mike Leahy, David Lewis, Robert Lloyd, Mark Linington, Steve Martin, Billy Maupin, Eric Mayers, Scott McCaughey, Chris Mills, Eugene Mirman, Rick Moody, Mark Morris, David Nagler, Kathy O’Connell, Andy Paley, Joe Pernice, Dave Rave, Josh Ritter, Tom Robinson, John Roderick, Gabe Roth, Carla Sacks, Abbey Stace, Christopher Stace, Al Stewart, Duncan Thicket, Jeroen van der Meer, Chris von Sneidern, Loudon Wainwright III, Gustafer Yellowgold, and Dan Zanes.
The Songs and Lyrics
Rock Around the Bed (E. Friedberger/Stace), Lucky Duck (E. Friedberger/Stace), The Story of Dan, Beth, Chris, and Blank (M. Friedberger/Stace), Why I Cry (M. Friedberger/Stace), The Dog Mustn’t Speak (M. Friedberger/Stace), The Second Pear Tree (M. Friedberger/Stace), Noon in June (M. Friedberger/Stace), Fresh Air for My Nose (Stace). All songs published either by EF Debris/Plangent Visions (ASCAP) or EF Debris/Friedberger/Friedberger/Plangent Visions (ASCAP).
WESLEY STACE is the author of three widely acclaimed novels: the internationally bestselling Misfortune, selected by the Washington Post and Amazon as one of t
he best novels of the year; by George, one of the New York Public Library’s 2007 Books To Remember; and Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer, one of the Wall Street Journal’s best fiction books of 2011. He has also recorded under the name John Wesley Harding, though his recent album, Self-Titled (September, 2013), was the first released under his own name. He is the founder of the Cabinet Wonders variety show, contributes frequently to The New York Times, teaches ay Princeton, and lives in Philadelphia.
wesleystace.com
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Jacket illustration by Adly Elewa
Author photograph © Ebet Roberys
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