Page 7 - Contrast1978Marchv21n2
P. 7
It was all so inexpllcab~a then,
So hard to understand;
~ old man a10ne
Who l.et his cats eat off his p.la.te,
Neverwa.shed his fioors.
My chi J dbood' S booqey men
I feared so easily.
BoW can i the? evezyone asked \.
:F.rom their lofty c~ean kitchens;;,
The crazy one
Who wrote notes to his radiator ..
'!'he sick one
Discovered three weeks after death.
'l'heIse were lIeD in straw bats
Wi. th brown chew-tobacco teeth~
Men wi th ~umped shoulders,
Bellies hang:ing in overalls.
There were the two ba.cheJ.ors
A1oneon their farm,
Never saw anyone.
And when one died
So did the other.
There was the ol.d one.
Wi.fe.less for thirty years,
Walking, a pai~ in each hand ..
Hute.l.y toward his grazing an; ma] s.
They ccae back to lie
With heavy booted feet
In faint vtU.spers.
-Leona:N IfniffeZ
