Over the Deep Empty Answer, and: Dump
Rent from DeepDyve- Over the Deep Empty Answer, and: Dump
Over the Deep Empty Answer
Potty-trained in an outhouse whenwithout a sustaining grownup handthe little one might simply jackknife in
one spring morning playing in the yardalone maybe four I watchedtwo uncles tip up over on its earthe little white box of nightmaresletting daylight into what I thoughtan everlasting pit of stink that ranblack to the center of the earth
then one in hipboots staggered downalongside the muck the other pointed out [End Page 159]
was littered with flimsy love notesand a delicate bite at a time shoveled itup in the back of this wagon on iron wheelswhile the horses stamped and studiednot spilling a drop onto anythingthat they said they were stealingto sweeten some feller's roses
then between us having heapedthis ripe understanding open-eyedset the thing back good as newright over the deep empty answerharmless now as any lidded gravethen climbed to the seat took the reinsspoke once and the horses proceededdown the road one said he heardcalling out some neighbor's mother loadwhistling all the while the sunshine lasted
Dump
Though some old farms look to be perfectoff one corner somewhere still might bea gully that naturally gatheredthat rusty cookstove past repairpickup that lit in a ditchspewed its suspension all overbedstead so squeaky who could standone more night ofwagon shed the rim off all its spokesicebox the fieldmice dismantled [End Page 160]
bicycle bent in a question markbrokeback kitchen chairevery one of them going nowherebut straight down into the groundtaking their own sweet timewhere saplings creeper vines reach upso better get out of the wayso no one gets hurt tripping over
except for the shop where you'd gopull apart any thing still had lifemost everybody used to feed a dumpyou couldn't spot from the roadwhere secret failures were leftprojects dropped once and for allthat rot and rust got the best ofhopes abandonedall the breakdowns bad deals no dealssure to be studied rememberedevery time you boiled over went to throwthe latest costly lesson down that slope
Paul Hunter's poems have appeared in Alaska Fisherman's Journal, Beloit Poetry Journal, North American Review, and Poetry, among others. He has published poetry books and chapbooks, and operates Wood Works, a letterpress publisher.
