John Yohe

The special ring decoders of our youth

When we were old enough to know
that things did not make sense
but young enough to think
that there was something
that could make sense of them
something that came from outside of us
but was from us
invented by us
and
we were old enough to know our parents weren’t the ones
to know
but young enough
to think someone
somewhere
would
we had
the special ring decoders of our youth
available in five different colors
red
green
blue
orange
and pink
for only three cereal boxtops
and two dollars
but
when they arrived in the mail
they soon broke
or were lost
and mostly
forgotten
along with our two dollars
they were small
didn’t fit very well
made of plastic
and when we held them to pieces of paper
or our parents
or the window
the same messages appeared:
BE THERE SOON
or THE CODEWORD IS DOG
or GOOD WORK SECRET AGENT!


Oh I don’t know

Can’t we
and why not
go snorkeling at Cabo San Lucas
and find drug money

that smugglers had to ditch
and take it
and have them chase us north
at high speed

over the Mexicali border
and into the Mojave desert
where we could make love
in spanish

at night
in one sleeping bag
while coyotes howl?

It’s five dollars
for another dance
—she said—
or twenty-five
for three songs
in private

(for Robert Creeley)