Ballad of Another American Boy

by normal

I am from an ancient culture
I am from a new people
I am from the Pale of Settlement
I am from a fleeing mass who walks & prays in circles
I am the grandson of dung-covered horse soldiers & shawl-draped Temple builders
I am first cousin to a total wastral & second cousin to the
World’s most famous mime.
I am the town to which I shall never return.

A history of Dark Handiwork has prepared me for life
The quickening of seasons has polished my urn for death.

I am the once wagging tail on Howard Johnson’s dead dog
I am Harpo Marx chasing Margaret Dumas with a duck horn
Mickey Rooney chasing Corliss Archer
The last hobo jungle on the American River
I am The Little Tramp
The face that will never be printed on the Forever Stamp
I am the last dying elm in the town square
I am hot apple pie at Pops & Skeeter’s All Night American Diner.
I am the town to which I shall never return.

I am the Bijou     I am the hoo-doo      the fisher of gar on
The Bayou      I am the blood in the gutter on the other side
Of the tracks     I am the other side of this towns secret sex
I am the rabid firehouse dog wrapped tight in a confederate flag
I am the Monsanto baby with the hydrocephalic head
I am the railroaded     the blindfolded      the stoop shouldered
The truckloaded    I am the black elixir that wakes you
The greed that drives you      the machines that run you      the
Cybro-hoo-doo that guides you     the robot that re-places you
I am the jukebox     the jalopy      the last wild horse in the western
Sunset.
I am the town to which I shall never return.
June/2018