Tuesday poem #311 : Evan Gray : from WRETCH POETICS




beneath fence wire

some investigators. some broken

.22 magnum scope some

murder weapon. some

 pieces found inside the victim’s
door. some local hardware

store that sold it to him.



[VICTIM], 25; Christmas-tree farm
on Jan. 24, 2008 & killed

[VICTIM], 73;
his son, [VICTIM], 44;

& a farm employee.


mr. firewood salesmen
shot all three. how deadly could you be


I would leave my kids
with you. I trust your

eyes. your frail hair is 12 lb.
test & you are old
your age is a blacksnake
& I thought I knew


you. so  


how could you on the bridge
the bridge I go fishing
near. fuck you for killing
those boys. you bastard. I think

 of you all the time. not
because of your duty & plea


barging but because of this

bridge. my bridge & those boys.
how selfish of you to do this
to me. how selfish of me

to think you ruined
my place. my river. the head
of two others. the firearms


used in the crimes missing

disposed of. I wish

                       
that man would’ve just
killed himself or drowned




+++



just a mile
down
a thorn bush
behind hog pins
strung in
the starkness of new
telephone wire

the holler
a blister
might as well be
my flannel shirt
coated in briars

the beehives again
a half-dollar
Dad gave me
buy gas
take a mouthful of snuff
hide in the house
J comes over drunk

pick
scabs on
the porch
light
find something

to hold
on to in the perch
window
stains
you leave
the doors locked
you remember
the mountains
ridges
BBQ chip bags
that night on the bridge
the mountain
the car
almost drove off
origins
like a shoebox
hand-me-down
sweaters 

a murky
pond
hayfields
hissing
in wind
cattails
tall people
the cold
alter
now fenced-in
field my self-
portrait
backdrops
blackberries
along
the parkway

rough
work
words
taxidermy
plastered
deer hide
mason jars
filled with
kerosene
postcards
furnaces
black smoke
the road
silver
pine
riddles
fast food joints
maybe
a blacksnake
six goats
four hens
diabetes toes
in unison
dancing
seven nails
my cerebral cortex
his liver
failures


tractor bucket
here is
a sacrifice
now God
a stuck hog
or lamb or
another
blacksnake

keep
we
ours
yours truly
the mice
out of the barn
most of all
bottom
feeders

bent glass
shards flat
picking
breaks
a melody
a birth
a cesspool

no
new
eyes

here
rain
clouded
ecosystems
white
chalky
connections
or dust
my dashboard

readiness
certain
eyes

call
things
specific

before
the corn
comes




Evan Gray is from Jefferson, North Carolina and is the author of the chapbooks Blindspot (the Rest (Garden-Door Press, 2018), BODY BIRTH (above/ground press, 2019) and Dusk Melody (Shirt Pocket Press, 2019). His essays and poems have been featured in DIAGRAM, Tarpaulin Sky, Yalobusha Review, Word For / Word, and others. He currently lives and teaches in Pittsburgh, PA.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan



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