They Said, and: Benediction of the Father, and: Over Countless Bridges I Say Amen

They Said

they said beau was on that crystal and that's why he lost so much weightcome back from summer break looking long and thinso the coaches moved him from left tackle to outside linebacker

and i was so skinny that kids made jokes and threw food at me in the cafeteriathey said eat a cheeseburger couillon they said

and i didn't want to be skinny no more and i didn't want to be weak no moreand i didn't want to do crystal even though beau was popular noweven though his new girlfriend was a real dixie queenand when the ark-la-miss news said he was deadi didn't understand and i didn't know they also called it meth

*

they said the lord wasn't gonna flood the world no morebut he must have forgot about us so we took what we couldfrom the waterlogged houses mostly guns mostly pill bottlesmostly things we could sell no questions asked

in my neighbor's house i smashed the door of a gun cabinetand the deer etched on the glass scattered

they said take that shit hurry the fuck upbut i just stood there looking till we leftthey said you a pussy you coulda made a fortune

they said édouard got sent to angolaand come back with a swastika on his neck

*

they said blood is made in the bones but oil comes from the gulfand when the storms rock the rigs the chaplain takes confessionsand the boys cross themselves all night

they said big dan got blown up and burned all overand now he lights his cigarettes with his ring fingerthey said the settlement money is long gone

they said when the rigs catch fire some boys jumpthey said them boys burn and even the water can't put them out

*

they said his daddy's a sonofabitch and they said he's a drunkand they said he ain't got no daddy noways

i try to remember everything i don't know about myselflike is he inside here somewhere just waiting to lash out of me

they said you look so much like your daddyyou so much like him i could spit

and they said he killed a man and that's why he run offand i remember the night and the kitchen sink and maman yellingand the blood running down his face and i know it's true

*

they said if you don't fight him then we'll beat your assso i took the three-foot branch of pinefrom the side of the road and i bashed his fucking face in

i can't remember his name but i know they say it sometimeswhen they're drunk and looking back and thinking about how good they had itback then when we were hungry and terrible and young

they said you one of us now they said you don't never have to be alone nowthey said you did good they said you did good they said you did good

Benediction of the Father

Midnight, fathercovered in blood.Blood from the brow,the orbital bone,socket, blinded.

Drunk with a broken hand.Mother holding dishrags.

*

From the window the marsh trembles.Two brothers play in soil thick as black bread,and tievines gather and climb uncheckedup the cinder block stilts and swallow the house.The eggplants in the garden are overripe,aubergine skins fit to burst, a bruise.

*

Looking for work, handwrapped in duct tape.

Old classifieds cover the holein the tile over the sink.

What makes a task a chore?Long, slow mornings. A wasted life.

The pages turn. The coffee boils downand spackles the decanter.

*

We lost the house.

He must have been letting things gofor a long, long time.

My father found a houseboat, saidit's time to...