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Growing Up in Butter Country
Mondays I’m a bugle, smiling,
yellow clockwork circled by triangles
frightening clouds into shadows
I hopscotch planets, hurl Saturn rings on Tuesdays
canvas after canvas of shimmering wheat stalks
farmhouse rooftops, drawbridges, bouquets and chairs
Thirst overcomes me Wednesdays; you’ll find me
quaffing Guinness at the pub, rivers of it,
translating Phoebus jokes into foaming Gaelic
What I do on Thursdays is my own affair
slinking in downtown doorways, through broken shuttered windows
thrusting and tonguing some naked after dinner mints
Why do Fridays always make me nervous?
my popcorn packets burst, can’t find my glasses
get lost in prickly forests, my rays scratched by brambles
On Saturdays I lay out on the porch, sip hibiscus tea
read weekend newspapers, seek old friends in obituaries
and contemplate hours remaining for the sky to fall
Sundays, thick, creamy and bursting at their seams
my histories of glory hanging from a thousand splintered mornings
I sign my name in gold, grin again and sink into the sea
Mondays I’m a bugle, smiling,
yellow clockwork circled by triangles
frightening clouds into shadows
I hopscotch planets, hurl Saturn rings on Tuesdays
canvas after canvas of shimmering wheat stalks
farmhouse rooftops, drawbridges, bouquets and chairs
Thirst overcomes me Wednesdays; you’ll find me
quaffing Guinness at the pub, rivers of it,
translating Phoebus jokes into foaming Gaelic
What I do on Thursdays is my own affair
slinking in downtown doorways, through broken shuttered windows
thrusting and tonguing some naked after dinner mints
Why do Fridays always make me nervous?
my popcorn packets burst, can’t find my glasses
get lost in prickly forests, my rays scratched by brambles
On Saturdays I lay out on the porch, sip hibiscus tea
read weekend newspapers, seek old friends in obituaries
and contemplate hours remaining for the sky to fall
Sundays, thick, creamy and bursting at their seams
my histories of glory hanging from a thousand splintered mornings
I sign my name in gold, grin again and sink into the sea
© Johnmichael Simon
2-13
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