Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Oklahoma Kid


The Oklahoma Kid


“Kurtz fascinated him —
characters who shared
the name in The Third Man
and Heart of Darkness”
— Michael Shelden,
Graham Green, The
Enemy Within

What better place—
Than ruined bombed-out
Vienna to play the old
Heart of Darkness game?

Kurtz goes crazy—
Deep in rotting Africa but
Vienna also is one of the
Dark places of earth

Herr Kurtz meets Holly—
In the outdoor café with
His copy of Holly’s pulp
Fiction “The Oklahoma Kid”

Herr Kurtz’s toupee—
It makes Holly dislike
Him at first sight right
Away at their rendezvous

It keeps slipping off—
Like Akim Tamiroff’s
Greasy little tacky wig
In “Touch of Evil”

There’s something —
Phony about a man
Who just can’t accept
His baldness gracefully

It’s flat and yellow—
Cheap and ill-fitting
Clinging to his bald
Head like a ratty rug

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