rad poetry #4: for laura ellen scott

RAD POETRY THANKS LAURA ELLEN SCOTT AND JACK CHRISTIAN



A GIANT REALM
by Jack Christian

for Laura Ellen Scott

We stood by the mill and told the stories of Fred, Ned, and Ed.

One time, Ned flipped a cement truck. Ed owned a confident dog.

Fred leased farm equipment. Fred became obsessed

with the unevenness of his face. Ned said, God says

cut-up in church. Ed caught a fish with his hands.

Ned didn’t eat right. The donkey nearly died when Fred

fed it cake. The donkey nearly broke my fingers

when I saved its life. A blue heron nested by the picnic area

on the Upper Catawba. Below the dam was the Lower Catawba.

We stood in the mud. The dog killed a muskrat.

Fred climbed after pawpaws. Ed found a bundle of wire in a stump

by the creek. Ned said we could be in touch with anybody.

When the blue heron landed it was because of our noise.