Poetry Is Dead

Dear Sasquatch

Dear Sasquatch

Stop avoiding me

I know
you know
I know
you’re out there

You know
I know
you know that

Sasquatch

Since you’ve been gone
My houseplants have been giving me the silent treatment
& my heartstrings all have fallen out of tune

Since you’ve been gone
The posture of my penis is just one more economic indicator
with which to measure the health of the nation

Shit! since you’ve been gone
White people are getting whiter
My balls are getting bluer
& the 2010 Olympics are murdering your good name

They’ve cutified you
into Quatchi
Teletubby of the British Columbian forest
who wears ear muffs
falls over easily
& squeaks “Shop with Quatchi”

But contempt is too easy

I know
you know
I’ve sensed you
out there
Standing in line at London Drugs
trying to buy a crimper and some scrunchies
while everyone looks the other way
except for the cashier
who looks straight through you

Sweet, noble Sasquatch
Contempt is too easy
Come back to me!
I won’t apologize for the time I called your sister abominable

But each night
I will phone Grouse mountain
asking them to blink out a morse code I Miss You
with their ski hill flood lights
Start a forest fire near Whistler if you feel the same

I have biked down countless alleyways
trying to read the calligraphy in the concrete
for directions to your church of the invisible

Bring me your shabby bible
with its tissue-thin pages
I will build us a home

I worry though
I worry that you’re right here
& I’m just not looking
quietly enough to see you

I’m like the backseat brat on a cross-country drive
constantly asking
“Are we there Yeti? Are we there Yeti?”
without ever looking out the window

Dear Sasquatch

I have no address for you
So I’m reading this open letter at open mics
I know it will reach you
eventually

You’re the kind of creature
who comes to events
like these
& sits in the corner writing confessional poetry

Sasquatch

If you’re here
Please
stand up

& tell us
your story




End Bug

tags Vancouver Olympics Spoken Word Sasquatch poetry Poem Chris Gilpin 2010

This story appears in Poetry Is Dead issue 1. If you like it online, you'll love it in print. Subscribe Now »

About the Author

Chris Gilpin

Chris Gilpin has been a two-time member of the Vancouver Poetry Slam Team (2008 & 2009), the runner-up in the 2008 Vancouver Individual Poetry Slam competition, the champion of Vancouver’s 2008 Haiku Death Match, and winner of the Vancouver’s 2009 CBC Poetry Face-off.