Sherry Chandler » A Poem of Witness
A Poem of Witness
Two Day
Johnny Eagle
smells like cat pee.
Momma’s drunk.
has been for three days.
Daddy one is dead,
two in jail and three…
at his girlfriend’s trailor.
I make the required call,
knowing the outcome.
I feed him,
give him my nephew’s outgrown coat.
It’ll be worn until stiff,
then thrown away.
During the science video
I hold him.
he tells me he feels
like a kitten at bathtime.
At last bell
he shoves a note in my hand
then boards bus 44,
waving, grinning.
Yellow and black
disappear behind houses
across the street.
I wonder if he will eat tonight,
Tomorrow?
Then I unfold
the sticky piece of him.
“Teacha tank u for two day.”
— Wanda D. Campbell [first published in Rogue Scholars, Jan. 2005]
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1 Comment
1. Charlie replies at 12th November 2005, 10:21 am :
This great poem could be used as a political beliefs test.
If, after reading it, you still have a dry eye you must be a neocon.
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