40 Poems From POMEGRANATE FLESH by Strider Marcus Jones

CHILDHOOD FIRES - Poem by Strider Marcus Jones from Pomegranate Flesh

CHILDHOOD FIRES

late afternoon

winter fingers

nomads in snow

numb knuckles and nails

on two boys

in scuffed shoes

and ripped coats

carrying four planks of wood

from condemned houses

down dark jitty's

slipping on dog shit

into back yard

to make warm fires

early evening

dad cooking neck end stew

thick with potato dumplings and herbs

on top of bread soaked in gravy

i saw the hole in the ceiling

holding the foot that jumped off bunk beds

but dad didnt mind

he had just sawed the knob

off the banister

to get an old wardrobe upstairs

and made us a longbow and cricket bat

it was fun being poor

like other families

after dark

all sat down reading and talking

in candle light

with parents

silent to each other

our sudden laughter like sparks

glowing and fading

dancing in flames and wood smoke

unlike the children who died in a fire next door

then we played cards

and i called my dad a cunt

for trumping my king

but he let me keep the word

Copyright Strider Marcus Jones 2012. From his book Pomegranate Flesh. All Rights Reserved.