Caricamento in corso...

Abel Menton

Grave Poem of Spoon Island: Abel Menton

Many times, my father, drunk upon the scripture,
“Spare the rod and spoil the child”
Swung his belt and lay the stripes upon my back
To cleanse my soul.
And I, drunk upon memory and whiskey,
Started a fight on Cannery Row.
And my father took a rope and lowered me
Into the dry well - dark hole beneath the house
And threw the rope in after, that I, like Jonah,
Three days in the belly of a whale,
Would bend to the will of the Lord.
And the constable came to lock me in jail,
Dark hole beneath the courthouse
And I swung the bottle
And parted him, body and soul.
And the congregation said to my father,
“Jobe suffered many trials
And was assured in the love of the Lord.”
And they took the rope from my neck
And lowered me into the hole.

(1990)

Inspired by the book "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters. These poems have been crafted by me under the title "Grave Poems of Spoon Island".

Altre opere di Laura Brown...



Top