Friday, July 11, 2014

the little sunbonnet girl



linda parker
born in kentucky 1912
but grew up in hamond
indiana

she got expelled from
hammond high
an incorrigibl youth
for being a singer

on radio station wwae
in little saloons an nightclubs
downtown on state street
weekends were jammed

she was discovrd
by wls radio
and toured th usa
with th nationl barn dance
they had her wear
a sunbonnet on stage
strings hanging down
an a little gingham dress

in pictures she held
a banjo
but couldnt realy play
an she wasnt a real hillbilly
but sang soft and sweet
lush melodic old timey
like home

in august 1935
in elkhart indiana
her belly hurt so bad
but she sang and sang
two days later went
to the hospital and died
burst appendix

they said her last song
on the radio was
bury me beneath th willow
maybe jus to sell records

the rest of th troupe
went their separate ways

her real name was genevieve

Thursday, June 19, 2014

no one listens



in ancient times
i was a god

a mistake, really
some thought i was
Fenrir the wolf
no just a dog
whose round teeth can bite
not man or Odin

the women brought me henbane
to seduce men
bringing visions and eros
and make bellies round

one had to be careful
during visions
i warned them
not to wake the trolls

but some would take sticks
just to see the trolls snarl
for sport
once awake the troll took days to
sleep again

nobody ever listns

farming with red cross dynamite indiana 1910



james kemper
sat on his frnt porch
readng the du pont brochure
full of wonder

it promisd
'dynamite excavates th hole
loosens the ground for yards around
kills all grubs
formng a spongy resrvoir for moisture
trees plantd in dynamited holes
live and thrive
and
a whole row of tree holes
can be excavatd in one instant
wth dynamite'

he talkd about this
and his many hopes
with miss melrose
who sat upon th porch swing
her bright spirit
a complemnt to his
bringing life to
dreary and barren days

on hearing his plan
a spool of thread fell
from her lap
their hands
accidently met
'please don't do this'
she sed softly
then resumd sewing

that afternoon
in th distance
twenty 3 trees
and james
fell to the detonation
in one instant
between her stitches

her face now aflame
miss melrose
stood up
and saw an empty space
wher once was james
she sat
and sewed
not knowing what to do
next




Wednesday, June 18, 2014

the hidden history of the korean war



a little boy found me
left in an alley and took me hom
th sentry to his yard
king of all tiny things

daddy he called to the man
daddy
and grabd his huge hand
that had held a dying man

but the boy dint know
and every so oftn those hands
would fly at him so
angry

the boy grew tall and
left me there ...not a king at all
went away
promisd never to return

ten plus ten years it took
to forgive
to lern the world
its terible ways
how hands can punch cradle hammer strum

he came back
laid down his wepons
signed the armistice
the old man's hands now his