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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