Living

I had my quiet time early in the morning

Eating Almond Joys with Mother.

We’d sit on the back porch and talk to God.

We really had a good time.

Later on,

I’d sort baseball cards

Or look for bottles.

In the afternoon I’d shoot blackbirds.

Jimmy would go by the house for ice water

And make the truck backfire.

Oh, I really liked that.

That was the reason he did it.

In the evening the cottontails ran across the groves.

I shot one and put him in the backseat.

He went to the bathroom.

Jimmy said I knocked the shit out of him.

At night we would listen to the ballgame.

Then to the Hoss Man.

Jimmy liked “Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby”

by Jimmy Reed.

Source: The Singing Knives (Lost Road Publishers, 1979)