E.L. Blizzard

Shook

“But now happy little children themselves run from him,
Old Man Who Rattles Ten-Thousand Skeleton Keys.”
—From “Sad Story” by Andrew Riutta

heat lightning
sky of dying stars
everyone sees

Ever read some lines that wrangle round your heart, ax it right in half, slam it in the fire, eat it for their supper then breathe your lungs with faith, kick you through a closet, balm each stab they place, softly mop you up, shine mud off your brain, tuck your shirt back in, sweat you through the pain?

Out near some peninsula, where coffee’s always black, snow geese dance to music, Bible towers stack, dogs will bark at nothing and burn like any star, poplars whisper dangers, Men hunt for who they are, strippers are the angels, buddies are marred gods, journeys come in shapes, some drunks beat all the odds, coffins crush old soldiers’ bones, an empty glass is blessed, God hands out His swim gear, one book’s a sacred text, medicine is holy and cigarettes killheal, shotguns hold the ocean, hope is what you steal, bibs are scrubbed of piss, lilacs bloom and fall, sleeping bags are kissed, sunsets soften skulls, crows will tell it slant, grown men bounce on knees, plain rocks fill the pockets, jewels shine in the beans, some have sex with Silence, Native voices shine, some can Keep It Simple, hallowed and pain rhyme, strong Sons tend their folks while scratching out their lines, then there comes this perfect pearl rich as any prize: daughters smoke with Daddies while swinging at the sky.

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Note: “Sad Story” appears in Blessed: Modern Haibun on Almost Every Despair by Andrew Riutta (Red Moon Press, 2022).

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About the Author

E. L. Blizzard writes in the U.S. South (Tennessee at the moment). She is particularly obsessed with the haibun form, and her work can be found here, there, and yonder. A bit of her work is anthologized and she’s been nominated for a Pushcart. She loves reading, writing, kind people, rivers, and shooting pool.

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