Godfather, or Another Southern Magazine Verse

 

There is sunlight

and lots of it

and I see

blades of grass

springing with the leap of grasshoppers

            and ladybugs

      their piehalf wings

like being cut open into flight

and hot dogs

           like lashed flesh

burgers liquid on top like

flattened

cauldrons and

bubbling

a yellow bag of half-

crumpled buns and stack of paper plates

under mustardketchup

picklesvlasic (jar)

lined and ringed bottles

and there

sunlight green

is and refracting through

picklejuice               emeraldlike

in that light of the bird’s

not-tweeting and cool

breeze stirring walnut dogwood trees of

two coolers at the feet of white circled

chairs

sitting drinking

cigarette butts

and water spilt out

browner than dirt

beer pulled from an Uncle’s pocket

and more and more

and ya’ll eat up

oh no (rubbing stomach, grimace)

I’m full

Naw

Ya’ll just et up

hot dog?

burg…?

and laughing

staring

sitting sitting smoking eating

two dogs in the white circle

aww aww c’mere n’ik n’ik n’ik heeah puppuppup

and they walk off in sun

and blades of grass

holding hands

talking low

as fireflies come out

twinkle

not right dark

gonna rain?

a crushed noxious of the catalpa tree

at least fifty worms crawling toward it

gnarled

almost leafless

striped a neon back

hunching scrunchin

look it has little suction cup legs

I say

crawling like

                         h  i

               .       t        s   .

holding it in my hand

turning my wrist

letting it run

I’m gonna name er Natasha

laugh

turn wrist

watch

good name

laugh again

the sun is going down

two figures in shadow

holding hands

kissing

it has been a good night I think

a farm

walnuts

burgers

catalpa worms

fries

beer

watching men in overalls

women in large Looney Tunes T-shirts

ask about what I’ll be doing in a few weeks

when college begins

what I’ll do

where I’ll live and

I don’t want to think about that

and we drive to get coffee

and smoke cigarettes and listen to Irish music

and they talk about the farm

and marriage

and he says one day when me and Stevie get married we’re gonna

live out here

that would be awesome I say

don’t worry man you can come over anytime

I’ll be the drunk uncle who’s not really an uncle

godfather man, godfather

and I laugh

and almost believe it

but I am happy

sometimes

even when it is just a plan

or even someone else’s plan

and sometimes

I think

I look out the car window

when I’m a passenger and feel that

I have done more

or traveled more

than if I had driven

and then I am happy too

there are haybales

out in the field

behind that church

with the graveyard next to the highway

but I do not point.