The Mucker Revisited
with Henry Knibbs

By Nkima

Once a guy named E-R-B
Scribbling upon a Mucker's spree
Heaved a brute into a literary sea
     to measure how far he could go.

From Chicago's seedy West Side backs
This crooked tale turns and tracks
From Malaysian shores to outlaw shacks
     in Villa's Mexico.

Billy Byrne was a rank product of the street - -
Nasty master of rob and cheat
Who throttled the weakling and effete
     with fingers around the throat.

One drink in a wild, Frisco saloon
Shanghaied him on the rusty "Halfmoon,"
Followed by a blasted, raging typhoon
     that sunk the pirate's boat.

Ah, but in between the storm and strife
A girl came to change his life.
That Barbara Harding will become his wife
     'tis assumed by the story's end.

But first, vivid episodes multiply
With head-hunting samurai
While Billy's transformed into a nice guy
     fabulous to comprehend.

For you see, Billy Byrne was so base
To kick a downed man in the face - -
Barely a member of the human race
     made soft by a pretty dame.

A Fugitive hobo enters Part II,
Plot thickened in historical stew - -
Many yarns stuck together with romantic glue
     of twines and tacks in the game.

Friend-bo Bridge quotes Henry Knibbs
In purple splotches and fancy dribs;
"Out There Somewhere" spouts natural ad-libs
     in an opera that's totally grand.

They save a farmer's wife, who's Cold Blood
Might have made Capote proud
That E-R-B was thus endowed
     to take such a modern stand.

Finally a Western tale seals the score 
In a tour de force of pulp and gore;
"The Mucker" is some of the better lore
     in the canon of ERB.

Plates by J. Allen St. John so rare
Flesh-out Billy and Barb quite fair
With buds of roses in their hair
     and kisses of pure fantasy.

      -30-


(I send this poem for completists out there,
Not because I value these lines threadbare,
'Tis only another thing to share
Before I slip society.)