Poem

 

Origins

 

His parents raised cross county,

Farm kids on the rural map,

Sliding like pieces on a

Board game as the dice rolled them

Square to square, over fields and

Creeks, school yards, cemeteries,

Late summers and trips to town,

Worshipping and making a

Case for a dream against war

And other calamities

That might keep them in distant

Corners, then college washing

Cafeteria dishes—

He got the nerve to ask her out,

Bought his first preacher suit—the

One chess move his daddy taught,

Castled to protect his queen—

The old story of how we

Came to be here, living lean.