Why are some men born
with minds that earn degrees
the loving cups
gilded plaques
grace their study walls
hide the cracks
while their genius is turned
to works of tyranny then
off to market to market
go selling these
With words so fiery and persuasive
they steal cunningly
riches no one can exceed
And why are some men born
with a fate of poverty
one firm bed
for a swollen back
year by year
the bodies wracked while
their obedience is had
with gradual defeat
by the pace by the pace
and the urgency
through a muddled thought
they phrase it
God knows we're deceived
barter for
what they need
And where they go
disdain and jeering
for fools to call
the noble peasantry
O how it puzzles me
I pressed flat the accordion pleats
that had gathered in his cotton sleeves
while he thumbed
yes thumbed I wouldn't say caressed
The final piece
a mountain's crest
soon to reply assuredly
O for man aged ninety years
no words to waste on sermons
he'd be pleased to answer
short and sincere
Girl there's a nonsense
in all these heaven measures
it's a heathen creed
so your grandma says
but better to live by...
drink it all in before it's dry
He ended there with a rattle
cough cough
I took away the long gone cold coffee cup
as a trail of Camel ashes fell
on the floor
Eager to please was just the way that he was
though his attempts there falling short,
expectation
see he would tell of all his conquests,
was he bragging?
but in the evening all alone
Ellen unplanned delays
saving for someone who really cared about you
invincible they say
married to your name
she was the kind between a child and a lady,
quick was her temper
like a blaez from an ember
no one had measured to her standard,
so in the evening all alone all alone
how do I tell them to open their minds
and to take a chance
maybe on finding life’s treasure stubborn they stay set
in their ways really not wanting to be lonely not alone.