Everything official and warm balloons

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︎︎︎ Dennis Goodwin

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︎ Dec 5, 2025

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^{For Henry Darger}

Men with buttons are looking everywhere for yellow dress and hair girls.

What do they think is hiding
on other side of trees?

Instead of thinking of what is hiding
on other side of trees, men with buttons
bend heads towards navels,
coveting buttons, rows of buttons, imported buttons,
official business buttons,
navel too a button,
and hats buttons, official hats for looking important
and men with buttons have important business to attend to.

As they aren’t thinking of what is hiding
on other side of trees, it doesn’t seem
men with buttons will ever untwine yellow
from dress and hair of girls, imported girls,
rows of girls growing up to untwine dress and hair,
naked on next shipment of yellow,
everything official and warm balloons.

If they can’t think of what is hiding
on other side of trees, men with buttons
will eat hats, untwine navels,
losing business, imported afternoons,
stripping to yellow and cursing those balloons,
cursing yellow dress and hair and girls
who only disappoint when all a man needs are
buttons for looking important.

Official business is quite discouraging, think buttoned men,
who balloon
and puff out warm afternoons.