Hiram (Poem for Earthweal)

35 Replies

Hiram

Hiram likes to drink water
direct from the spigot
on the front wall of his house;
he hasn’t had to connect a hose
to that darn spigot
since he converted the lawn to artificial.
Good times.
In the evening,
he sits on his porch
staring out at the Christmas tree green of the lawn
drinking lite beer
and polishing his assault rifle,
this gives him comfort.

Not that he’s afraid,
he ain’t afraid of nuthin’,
he ain’t afraid of AOC
he ain’t afraid of Antifa
he ain’t afraid of that girl from Sweden
the one that never smiles
he’s vigilant, that’s all;
vigilance is of the essence.
He likes the sound of that,
maybe get a T shirt made
put that on the front,
‘G.I. – God Incarnate’ on the back.

No, he ain’t afraid of nuthin’,
but sometimes
in the early hours of the morning
he lies awake
his gut gurgling like a drain
as it processes
the Outback appetizer
of deep fried onion rings
that the waitress
piled high on his plate
like a jumble sale
of used Olympic symbols;
he lies awake
stalked by a fear
he will not name
the fear of being left behind,
left in the dust,
by the twenty first century.

This week I’m hosting the weekly challenge over at Earthweal (Title “Fiction? Don’t be a Stranger”). So head on over there and prepare to be challenged.

Also taking part in Open Link over at dverse


35 thoughts on “Hiram (Poem for Earthweal)”

  3. kim881

    Men like Hiram are throwbacks to a past most of us want to forget. ‘God Incarnate’ doesn’t seem to give him any comfort. Maybe it’s the deep fried onion rings’ that have made him that way. I like the simile ‘piled high on his plate / like a jumble sale / of used Olympic symbols’. A scary portrait, Jim.

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  8. Brendan

    Dunno if you ever read the great novel by Denis Johnson, “Already Dead,” but that’s the term for these assault-rifle-packing zombies of the Trumpapocalypse. They only fear they’re soon dead, they don’t know how much they are. Great sixpack of details here, a glug from fake lawn to greasy onions.

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  10. erbiage

    ah poor hiram. his fear is so deep! I don’t know how anyone can do well eating that garbage
    “like a jumble sale
    of used Olympic symbols” oh this is so funny!

    Like

    Reply ↓
    1. sdtp33 Post author

      Thanks Jade….by the way, I know you are a big George Harrison fan, have you listened to “Horse to the Water” , a collaboration with Jools Holland, or “Punchdrunk” by Rubyhorse, an Irish band, George plays slide guitar. They both popped up on my Spotify feed. JIM

      Liked by 2 people

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