(After Tomaž Šalamun)

Tom Hunley is one of the wild things

from Where the Wild Things Are.

Tom Hunley is the home run ball

people bite each other over in the cheap seats.

His favorite time of day is twilight, of course,

when everything is happening. Other people

and I, we pat him on the back when he walks by.

We buy him drinks. Why not? The world

is getting heavy with so many people

eating so many Big Macs, and sometimes

Tom Hunley acts like Atlas said

“Hold this” and then “Sucka!”

It used to be he could fly, they say,

but ex-girlfriends and other detractors

plucked his wings and showed them to him.

It used to be he could see, too, but

ex-girlfriends and other detractors plucked

his eyes, and for a second, he swears,

he could see himself perfectly.

This is all figurative, of course.

Tom Hunley taught that distinction

and so many others

to me and to so many others.

I’ve been following Tom Hunley on Twitter.

Today he’s in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Next week, maybe Fairmont, Minnesota,

City of Lakes. You can waterski there,

or snowmobile, and don’t forget your fishing pole!

says Randy Quiring, Mayor. Next week

Tom Hunley and his sons plan to fly

a box kite in Fairmont, Minnesota,

and it will be big news there,

the wildest thing to hit Fairmont, Minnesota

since the grasshopper infestation of 1873.