On a Cold Afternoon at the Sit-N-Bull
the kid behind the counter
hesitantly asks
what happened to my eye
& i hold in my anger
just long enough to remember
that this is the only place in town
to get a halfway decent hamburger
where the coffee doesn’t taste like generational poverty
even though the water
comes from that very same river
& i imagine his ancestors wearing coonskin caps
wiping the dirt from his face
& i wonder what happened
to my eye too
& all of the things it once saw
wiped away
like smudges of memory
like the manners we rarely use anymore
there are some questions
we just shouldn’t ask.
About the Author: John Dorsey is the former poet laureate of Belle, Missouri and the author of Pocatello Wildflower. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.
Image Credit: Carol M. Highsmith “Modern diner, Pawtucket, Rhode Island” Public domain image courtesy of The Library of Congress
As It Ought To Be 