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Open Poetry #46
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Crazy Joe's Rest
| Open Poetry #46 |
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Crazy Joe's Rest |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Old Preacher Bill used to fry a lot of sinners In the cast iron pews as he dropped them in brimstone he saved up from remembering How he used to frequent those road houses himself Before he got religion and wanted to show the error of ways To those who hadn’t yet seen the light or taken The Lord’s bath on some Sunday afternoon His funerals weren’t much different Though they bore a muted sort of piety that came with tears From the assembled as they mourned a passing friend Or loved one who had in a miracle of faith accepted Him Or not I watched the lined up cars crawl by With the farmers and their wives as they followed the hearse And I had to stop and remember how it was with all of us Come some day and time when our bodies or our minds Have simply had enough and can’t go on Preacher Bill used to annoy the devil out of Iambe But he never could get her to give up on sin even though he tried Every time he brought his old Buick by for her to change the oil Or look for the rattle he alone heard when he drove She poked me in the ribs and made a motion with her head Telling me we needed to crawl into my truck and get started And to be as honest as I can, I wasn’t sure whether she wanted To get started back to work or to join the procession that began To wind its way up to Oak Hill, where the crazy Indian was To be laid in a final rest She closed the door and I asked where to as gentle as I could And was met with her stare “Joe, din’t really believe you know” “He told me one night at Red’s when the place was slow And he and I was doing shots of Patron, he thought the old ways best.” I nodded as I decided to wait for the rest, not tell her my own Night spent with him as we had crossed the Blue on our way For me to drop him off at the rez for a visit with his kin The cars pulled out slowly Not too many, but most the ranchers round had hired him One time or other to round up strays or fix a fence And payed him respects now more than they had cash “Let’s go to Red’s” she said. “Seems the older I get the more there is that’s dead” I put the old truck in granny and let the window down Listening to the crunch of gravel under the tires Just thinking a while About what she’d just said. |
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| © Copyright 2010 Cpat Hair - All Rights Reserved | |||
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sunnyh Junior Member
since 2008-01-07
Posts 14Staffordshire, England |
No critique necessary here!!! I like stories, and this one was very vivid, bringing the characters alive...well done, and what an enjoyable read!!! |
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Dark Stranger Member Patricius
since 2001-03-19
Posts 13631West Coast |
an old buddy of mine, "roller bill" used to have a 41` chevy truck...it had the real low granny 1st gear...sometimes out in the sticks we would walk beside it and drink wine..it went straight mostly...sometimes it took us astray.. nice to see you have been there amigo |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
sunnyh... many thanks for the time and eyes.. the kind words are always appreciated. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Dark, used to have a 46 Chevy myself and granny in it was the same. thanks for lookin sir |
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bel1e Senior Member
since 2006-07-24
Posts 1631 |
only you can marry grit & poetry, chief~*~ ~~~love your stories~~~ xoxoxox |
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Eldest Member
since 2010-06-15
Posts 177Alabama |
Perhaps Crazy Joe wasn't as crazy as people thought. There are a lot of "old ways" I would like to see us go back to. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
thanks Belle... happened to witness a passing procession of funeral cars today, made me think I never claimed to be a poet... still don't.. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Eldest, thanks for looking in and leaving a few words.. the old ways referenced here are more about Native American beliefs than some of the old ways we may have had. To some our practices of burial, of god, of religion with its do and don't..are pretty odd. more than you wanted to know. :-) but I'm bad about that. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
quote: Last Wednesday witnessed a man whose passing saw the cowboys and trainers, ranchers and playboys who loved the horses paying respect to a man who respected all for 95 years. You do sad, well. I will always appreciate Iambe's eyes. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Old Preacher Bill used to fry a lot of sinners In the cast iron pews as he dropped them in brimstone he saved up from remembering How he used to frequent those road houses himself Man, that has to be the best beginning I've ever seen a poem start with. Frying, cast iron, brimstone....damn, you make that look easy. Fantastic work as always, good sir.  |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
Love this and I think "Crazy Joe" was right. My Mom was half Native America (Creek). She was raised by a religious Grandmother but the "old ways" come from somewhere within and never leave. Ida |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Sunshine, I've seen it many times growing up. There's always a sadness, in both seeing he person pass and the knowledge a way of thinking and living is passing with it. You just have to respect how tough some of the old timers are and what they lived through. thanks for the nice words ma'am... always appreciated. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
Mr 'Deer Sir, High praise coming from you, since nothing I have written follows form or rhymes and could hardly be considered poetry. I thank you...for the generous words and for taking the time to leave them. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
March.... guess we all have something inside us that draws us one way or the other. My respects to your family. thank you for looking in and for the nice words. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
One does not need form or thyme to be poetic. Your words and descriptions and how you blend and connect them together with common themes is poetry itself. I would trade my couplets in for that ability  |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
I'm humbled sir.... your couplets however should not be traded so lightly and for little... thanks for dropping back by... and your very kind words. |
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