For Sunday Morning, a Poem and a Portrait

“Pokey,” Original oil painting by Lois Stiles Edgerly, circa 1970

THE SECRET HISTORY OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

Dogs invented it –
to irritate cats mainly,
but the prank took on a life of its own.
A basset in Maryland
grew tired of sitting up on his rear
begging for hors d’oeuvres at parties.
He was the first one to see
the power for suburban disruption.
No one knows for sure
how that hound passed
his slow rhythm to the second dog
or what form the thump took.
All that’s documented is the whining
of the cats – jumping out
of windows all over America –
when they realized dogs
had the bomb and were willing
to use it. All any Abyssinian had to do
was connect the dots – dog to dog
then the whole world – an implosion
of teenagers at the other ends of leashes
taking that wagging and panting as if
it came from their own need
to start war and build malls.

– Leonard S. Edgerly

Published in Beloit Poetry Journal  Vol. 46, Number 2 (PDF), Winter 1995/1996  page 35
(Lois Stiles Edgerly is my mother, an author, painter and dog lover who at 84 still doesn’t think much of rock ‘n’ roll.)

Send to Kindle