thirteen ways of looking at water buffalo

[baby tuckoo]

I
water buffalo
oreo pinocchio
spaghetti-o

II
my boyfriend nibbled
at my feet your
girlfriend nibbled
upon my ear your
great aunt lucy nibbled
on my seventeen pound
banana

III
beside the watering hole
the water buffalo attempted
civilization

IV
there is the sound of
breath going in the sound
of burlap flapping about
and the sound of water buffalo

V
i bought you a harmonica
you called me a
cad

VI
there is a theory
there is a conclusion
is the dream a fact
or is my opinion
vague?

VII
seventeen water buffalo
figuring skating on a lake
of frozen buttermilk

VIII
are roman numerals
numbers or a bunch
of letters that represent
tumescence

IX
swine and a lamprey and a
manatee are one
gibbons and hamsters and
water buffalo are
eloping

X
there is the sound
of snow falling on cedars
there is a book by that name
written by a water buffalo
or was it by a
nutria?

XI
in the snow the water buffalo
spelled its name in
urine

XII
water buffalo water buffalo
water buffalo
box cars box cars
box cars

XIII
that summer we
camped along the creek
south dakota was beset
by locusts or were they
three inch water buffalo
masquarding as
mosquitoes?