Tom Painting
Chain Reaction
I championed Popeye and spinach. He said broccoli would make him stronger. I praised saltines, he argued Ritz. I rooted for the Yankees, he, the Tigers. When I rocked to the Beatles, he fled to The Dave Clark Five. And so it went, with my younger brother and me. When I spun off into teenage rage, he took to gaining parental approval. Like Cain, there were times I wanted to kill him.
a scrapyard dog disturbs the peace the heat
About the Author
Tom Painting teaches junior high at the Paideia School in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2000, his students have had winning haiku in the Nicholas Virgilio Memorial Haiku Contest. His own work has been widely published and anthologized.