Finley on the West Bank

Recently I stopped by Finley's house.

I kinda wanted to see his puppy.

When I got there, I noticed he had some poetry books pulled out for me to read.

The book on top of the pile had multiple pictures of the poet on it and I figured that it must be one of those "Life Work" collections, because 1/2 the pictures displayed this Charles Manson looking guy with long wild hair and a beard that was out of control.

In the other pictures the guy was bald, not completely, but he had one of those Friar Tuck hair horse shoes, and the beard was replaced by a manicured mustache.

Now he looked like Dr. Phil.

So I ask Finley if the book was just taking up space, or if there was anything particular I should read from it.

Mike said.....

"The guys name is Charles Potts, and back in the day he was a big thing. He came from California. I was holding a poetry event...remember this was years ago, back when I was going through some kind of a Chinese Alter Boy phase where every word that passed my lips had extreme purpose, but yeah....I'll bet I hung 6 or 7 note cards inviting people to attend. I tacked them to telephone poles. Potts saw one of the few people that showed up."

That was the end of the description.

I was forced to dig into the book to learn more.

But somehow Ol' Charlie Potts was going to have to wait.

Instead I just took a moment to picture Finley on the West Bank.

I wondered if this was the same time Bob Dylan was cutting his teeth in that neighborhood.

In a recent poll taken by beautiful people and V.I.P.'s. Mike Finley ranked as the Twins Cities #1 Rebel Poet.....and he's what....in his early 60's?

What was Finley really like when he was in his 20's?

Anyways....the book "The Portable Potts" was interesting. It has some unusual formatting that kept me off balance, but there was one poem in particular that struck a chord with me.

MOM AND DAD

I was raised in a desert by a father who
Believed I was somebody else's child
And a mothers conditional love

My mother had brains
And my father had guts
When I am good I'm using both

My mother was very sociable
Mt father did ten thousand things alone

My mother loved to spend money
My father wanted to invest
I've invested all our money
So there will be more to spend

My mother wanted to have a good time
My father wanted to survive
I survive by having a good time

I'm the predictable result of
The underlying structure of my life

THE END

I could talk about this poem for hours...call me!