Undomesticated, animal-poor,
strung up in a field of Alabama deep.
strung up in a field of Alabama deep.
Everything that can be done to a man
was done to him. His limbs are
was done to him. His limbs are
1936, the year my father turned five
and learned to name things.
and learned to name things.
Scarecrow. Jesus. So begins the record
of human forms, primer in first memories.
of human forms, primer in first memories.
This is the tree. This is the tree’s scarred bark.
