Buddy, he called, buddy. Speech oozed out
his infected eye. I knew the rest — kept walking.
I picked at the scab, but still it quickly healed.
No comfort in old scars.
Don't scuff those new shoes. The old familiar oops.
Stop hurrying and fix me something good.
You can't get a sunburn from a red moon;
nevertheless, don't stay out too long.
No matter how much I shadowbox,
the gravediggers still blow on their hands.
— Jim Daniels
Jim Daniels' most recent books include All of the Above (Adastra Press), from
which this poem is taken, and Trigger Man (Michigan State University Press), a short-story collection. He lives in Oakland near the boyhood homes of Dan Marino and Andy Warhol. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Saturday morning on 90.5 FM.
