Pick up the pieces,
Throw them away, say amen,
Because like Humpty Dumpty,
I can't be put back together again.

Weldon Kees,
from his song "Pick Up The Pieces"

Weldon Kees Discovers That God Is A Chicano

As Weldon Kees jumped off the giant bridge
back home a half-consumed bottle of milk
occupied a chipped and lonely fridge,

the orange paint of the colossus
resembled that of the California sun.
Weldon thought the water would feel like molasses.

On his way down he was surprised to see
dead souls going up
still wet and blue and third degree.

He put his head between his legs
and kissed his butt goodbye.
Sometimes the dog of death sits up and begs.

Yet, Weldon had no time at all
to think about his poetry
busy as he was imagining St. Paul,

but when he got there God himself was at the gate
dressed in flowery Bermuda shorts
and he was infuscate.