John Martin

(academic stuff) (hints of life beyond
school and work) (Flying Moose videos, photos, stories, etc.) (observations)

bellow boy

 

when i was a bellow boy, i sang out summer songs

long in the pine shade, drunk in the sun, i

swam naked in a cool lake, lilting

like a bullfrog to the sky, to the sky.

 

when i was a bellow boy, i warmed beneath a bold night

counting constellations out like sheep, i'd

cry with every dying sigh the loons called off to dance

until the silent shrills of morning bid me wake.

 

Now I dream in flannel itchy,

drywall cave with hissy furnace

cackling clock electric buzz

to jolt my asphalt tin commute

(sardines and cattle up the ladder)

blaring filtered air conditioned

muzak marching me productive,

sighing

 

far from when i used to be

a bellow boy beneath a tree.

 

-john martin 1997