when he was

a kid

he recalled

the time

he’d closed

a jack

knife on his

little finger

& when he

went over

to show it

to his father

all the old

man did was

open the

knife &

wipe off

the blade

while the

blood poured

out then

his father

gave him a

wet rag to

help stop

the bleeding

& when he

got a little

of the blood

on his father’s

shirt the old

man gave

him a hard

slap up side

the face

& sd i don’t

want yr

blood boy

i never

wanted any

of yr blood

& that time

in an old

general store

in kentucky

where dillinger

had stopped

to get a pack

of cigarets

he watched an

old carpenter

sign a contract

for a job of

work in re

turn for gro

ceries &

the way that

he signed was

he stuck the

point of his

hunting knife

into his thumb

& pressed the

blood onto

the paper

next to the

place where

the general

store man

had printed

his name

 

Todd Moore

 

(from w/the blood of america by Todd Moore)

 

 

 

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