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Acknowledgments
Thanks to my folks and friends from Texas, Oklahoma and Or-
egon whose working man's take on talkin' is so rich and funny.
What a great way to git the job done!
    Thanks to Eddie, Paul and Mrs. Ruscha for a lifetime of ex-
periences and a shared, unique sense of humor. For being great
friends to hang out with back in Oklahoma City. You were like
an extra family, making growing up in Oklahoma a double dip of
good times. Thanks to "Edger" and "Parl" for transitioning
out
to LA and still being great friends to play to ever since.
    Thanks to everybody out there who got a laugh or two out
of these poems and passed them on. You created a widening
circle of friends for me that is still growing, and especially thanks
to everybody who decided to write a them poem or two for
theyselves & they friends. Thanks to Time for letting a lot of
itself go by, between then & now; helping me to realize, in put-
ting on my retrospecks, that it's what you guys wanted, so I just
gave it to you. Whatever happens we can always blame each
other.
    Thanks to Warren Nelson, Mr. Big Top Chautauqua, who put
the bug in Ken Frazier's ear to have the Parallel Press dust off
these relics from another time and have them flash across the
cosmos once again, and thanks to Tracy Honn for having a great
bedside manner as the production editor in helping to put the
book to bed.
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