Helmeted Guineafowl
1960
we moved from the country to the city
and an older boy showed me how to steal
from unlocked autos
I taught him to take the whole car
if they’d left the keys
we stole 13
me 14 he 18
one day
we snuck down bank of Spokane River
and slipped in the back of Nat Amusement Park
which was closed for the season
and roamed the dead rides
I took a brass ring from the carousel
and we slow walked the roller coaster tracks
from end to beginning
standing King Kong tall on its highest hill
finally from the small zoo
we stole a Helmeted Guineafowl
an African bird
nigh two foot high
2 1/5 pounds
black and white speckled feathers
tufted colored head
we carried it up river
hunkered down beneath an abandoned bridge
built a fire
cooked and ate it half raw
hot juices running down our chins
my lord of the flies moment
45 years later
I tell this story to my future wife
a kind and gentle sweet creature
and she is enthralled
must be something basic in blood
– Smith, 6.22.2017
