The Old Mother Goddess

by Russell Edson

The old mother goddess has hair on her chin.

Do you mind?

The old man blushes, he doesn’t know the answer.

I said, says the old mother goddess, do you mind if I become a man?

Oh that!—No, he doesn’t mind; she can have his place, she can be the new old man. He has read someplace the words that say…But he forgets, and once more blushes for not remembering what the words said.

Then you don’t mind? says the old mother goddess.

Mind?

Mind if I become a man…?

Oh that! No no, not at all.


The old man puts his razor on her altar.

 

Russell Edson’s peripatetic dog will find a permanent home in Edson's upcoming book, The Intuitive Journey, from Harper and Row. (Spring 1975)