|
American Queen |
- Owensboro
Two hours leave
off the boat that watches me everywhere
even on this riverbank where I sit
legs crossed, feet crammed into the only
other pair of shoes I got
and this old man's watching me
like he wants something
only I got nothing.
Two hours leave
and I am not going to waste it
on an old man with no teeth
I stare over the graying skyline,
rocked by the shadows of the boat,
sprawling, immense, eclipsing
even the yawning bridges
with graffiti in their teeth.
"A tarted-up cake," my momma said.
"New Orleans on a bad day," laughed my sister.
"But it moves," I said.
And in two hours will carry me
farther away
from this still, silent backwater
that goes nowhere
and smells of it too.
(previously appeared in A Wild Region, copyright 2008 Kate Buckley, Moon Tide Press)
copyright 2008
Kate
Buckley |
