Monday Motivation Owl
Last week for your Monday motivation we presented an owl from James Cortese’s What the Owl Said. This week we bring you an owl from Bay Area poet Michael Rothenberg’s What the Fish Saw with an illustration by Nancy Davis, printed in an edition of 200 copies at Don Gray’s Twowindows Press in Berkeley, California in 1985. In the same year, Rothenberg and Davis co-founded the fine press publishing venture Big Bridge Press. Our copy of What the Fish Saw is signed by the poet, artist, and printer.
Davis’s owl illustrates Rothenberg’s poem “The Owl:”
The owl blinked. The owl blinked.
Mr. Owl clutched. Hoot! Kept with a bad crowd.
Slept late. Evenings stalked the pools.
A fraternity of predators reclined in aluminum chairs.
Bookies and pimps bickered.
When Mr. Owl was too old to bathe himself, hookers preened his body down for a price--but kindly.
The odds had him dead at 84.
Not that we condone Mr. Owl’s lifestyle, but he sure is motivated!
View more motivated (and some unmotivated) owls.
