Coweta, OK, 1962

That was the year there was no spring

Winter melted into autumn

and the grass was brown

That was the year Horace Vandergelder

Ran off to the big city with Hilda Green

and Sylvia Plath committed suicide

That was the year I realized there

Was more to life than wheat fields

and Aunt Bessie's pippin apple pies

That was the year my pa, drunker'n usual

Went into the barn with my new shotgun

and I had to clean up the mess

You know, blood don't come out real easy

From the handle of a Browning

and I wanted to cry

That was the year crazy Jimmy Crawford

Recitin' lines from 'Seagull' finally cracked

and jumped off the Higgins Memorial Bridge

That was the year there was no spring

Winter melted into autumn

and the air was crisp.

R.Michael Fierro

28.9.83