dillinger poem by todd moore

sometimes the grass

sometimes

the wild flowers

it gets cold

in the woods

so cold the water

cold the sky

of the night

time

i dreamt of

the wolf

again

last night

running thru

a green

field of corn

the taste

of it was so

sweet it

almost hurt

my tongue

dillinger sez

go home

sonny

& i tell him it’s

hard to think

abt that

my daddy liked

to whip me

good

i wdn’t tell

johnny the

other things

he did

but then

i get to

thinking he

won’t be

there anymore

not so i cd

see him

& i can

go home

for this one time

i can go

home for

mama’s funeral

used to sing

fetch my funeral

clothes i’ll

be coming on home

death’ll be

waiting on the

front porch

to see me

death’ll be

cracking bones

in that busted up

chair sometimes

the grass some

times the wild

flowers waving in

the wind down

by otter creek

mama stands

by the lightning

struck oak

with a red rose

in her hand Johnny

sez it’s ok we’ll

go home together

& he drives all

night because the

dark talks to him

just a like bro

ther the dark

of the trees &

the hills & i

tell him abt how

i used to get

scared of the

dark & have to

hide under the

covers in my

room i’d take

a jack knife

with me then it

wd be ok til

some nights

when my father

got done chasing

his demons

with a big stick

out in the corn

he’d come to

my room & hold

out his hand & say

shut that knife

up boy cuz i

ain’t gonna hurt

you he scared the

wolf when he went out

into the corn

with his stick

& he scared me &

i never told

Johnny any of

that part because

i wd only go so

far remembering

& then it wd

get me to shaking

in the

dark & the dark

in the dark

johnny sez re

member this town

we’re driving

thru first nation

al bank on the

corner the

teller she

smelled just like

mama’s lilacs

i found a snake un

der the bush where

the purple was

darkest a timber

rattler up from

the field mama

got it with her

hoe & i never

told cuz of the

way she looked

she had her teeth

showing when she

chopped it in half

holding a rose

down by otter creek

under that oak

& she never sd

nothing the rose

was her talking

& the money smelled

of lilac when she

gave it to me

when she gave it

to Johnny he sez

a helluva take

& the night is

watching is always

watching the grass

& the flowers &

just a little way

down otter creek

where my mama stood

holding that rose

a kid drowned i

saw him go under

& for a second all

i saw was his hair

& i Jumped in but

as not good at

diving went down

just as far as i

cd i. think i touched

his fingers i touched

something that felt

like his fingers

maybe it was the

side of a catfish

or an old drowned

man’s face which was

bone smooth as the

skin or maybe i

touched death’s

hand which was

waving me under

waving me down as

deep as the tree

roots & catfish

caves where the

indian bones sleep

the talk of the

grass the cry of

the flowers tell

ing johnny i didn’t

mean to kill that

cop in blue sky

but he id’d you

& was drawing his

pistol dillinger

smiled the night

sticking like meat

to the dark places

in his teeth didn’t

mean to do

it johnny fired

over the roof

of the car & he

put his hand to his

throat like he

swallowed something

he cdn’t spit or

choke out it wdn’t come

& his pistol dropped

away i re

member the way

it went around in the

air like a funny

lethal top & then sailed

off in the

grass & the cop

was sitting in the

weeds when we drove

off & the little

wild flowers had

blood on them

mama holding that rose

like it was a piece

of her blood it

made me think she

was saving me a

slice of the moon

like when it gets

so red & the corn

is down & there is

no earthly place

for the wolf to hide

he didn’t get

as scared as i did

he had big teeth

& he knew how to

use them but most

of all he knew

how to get away

how to find the red

darkness & go way

back in the big

red damaged moon

i cd crawl into &

sleep there in that

rocking in that light

& that blood & some

of the lakes that dillinger

drives past has the moon

on them the wrinkled

moon floating along on

the top where the

water goes out

& someone in a boat

is talking & if we

pull over & stop i

can hear the voices

coming from the

boats as tho they are

talking to the

trees to the

water to the

stones on the

shore

to the dark crammed

way back &

deep inside them

dillinger sez

when’s the last

time you wrote

to yr ma

like he knew her

he never met her

but he talks like

he did & i think

if he met her

he wd’ve liked

her i know she

wd’ve liked him

because of his

joking ways his

walk how he wore

his hat she al

ways used to tell

me sonny if you

go to robbing banks

like i almost

know you will

you’d better do

it so good they

never cotch you

she liked to use

the word cotch

because her daddy

talked that way

he rode with nathan

bedford forrest &

she still had her

daddy’s gun she used

to say you wanna

look at a horse

pistol it was so

big it took two hands

to hold it tho she

cd wrap one big

meaty fist around

its wooden handles

she used to shoot

at hex signs on the

barn & her bullets

wd go into them every

time when she missed

she’d say goddamit

& then put one

hand over her mouth

like she’d wounded her

self she’d cut her

hand once with a

butcher knife &

never sd a damn

thing when the

blood came get

me down those

burying clothes

& i shake the

dirt out & put

them on flower

in her right hand

horse pistol in

her left & she

cd ride wd crawl

right out thru

her bedroom

window smack onto the

horse’s back

when she was

fifteen & her

daddy wd take

the buggy whip

to her for going

off with lewt

slang for lewton

he’ll do you no

good the old man

wd say but did

she listen the

rose hand bent

all the way across

her death

smells of roses

i long to swim

in the fumes

i remember my

daddy’s shotgun which i

never had any use

for because the

barrels were

so fat & long

mama

what did death

look like

when he came

up on the porch

& asked for

yr hand

& when he didn’t

get that a

drink of

ice cold water

somebody

yelling

tornado &

the grass

smelled so

green i

cd’ve gone

to sleep

in it & in

the green

green air

the funnel

dipped

out of the

black clouds

fell out

like a black

thread out

of a man’s

trousers

i saw a barn

go up & a

tractor & a

piece of a

house & a

two by four

came right at

me & turned

just right

missing the

side of my

head i thought

i was done

for sure

as hell

amazing grace wd

come floating

out over the corn

field where the

wolf used to hide

the sound of it

going right over

him the wind in

his fur the corn

the wild flowers

the grass i re

member the way

way it wd catch

mama’s hair & make

it go wild all

over her it was

so long some nights

i thought i cd

hide in it hide

from my father

who wd come up

the stairs the

way death came

up on the front

porch courting

my mama death

had a secret way

of hiding his

pecker among

his bones so

no one cd see

it & he had

a good voice he

used to sing

in a high tenor

voice sing you

are my sunshine

sing red river

valley so sweetly

the wolf wd come

out of the corn

but mama knew

what he was up

to knew he was

not to be trusted

knew he was

nothing

but was a sweet

talking son of

a bitch on wheels

& she’d wait

with a butcher

knife a russell

green river the same

one her grandaddy

gave her after gutting

a deer lost in the

green of the flowers

& grass down by

sweet otter creek that

drowned boy’s

blood makes it

taste almost like sugar

but it’s a smoky

sugar taste that

smacks of dying

around turtle shells &

catfish gills

they’ll know who you

are johnny you can’t

go to the funeral he

wears the 45 under

his suit coat asks does

it show much nobody’s

gonna be looking he’s

smoothing his hat brim

his reflection goes

so far inside the

mirror it looks like

he lives in another

country i can taste

the silver of his

darkness where it is

swimming the bullet

went thru my coat

& took off some of

the skin on my side

dillinger sees it &

yells at me flesh

wound later i scrub

it off in front of

the mirror my skin

looks so white dill

inger sees it sez

you gotta get a little

more sun boy pours

some bootleg on it

to cauterize the wound

ruined my dark funeral

coat dillinger sez

all clothes are

death clothes with the

take from the bank

you can always buy

new the wound covers

an old scar my

father’s buggy whip

gave me

i never told no one

but i think mama

knew sez they call

em horse pistols

cuz they was worn

on the saddle make

em easy to reach

i saw a guy shot

right off his horse

down by the creek

he’d just robbed

the farmer’s state

bank & was comen

down at a gallop

the posse cotchen

up got em where

the weeping willow

stood the one you

chopped down the

stump’s right there

winchester it was

he went clean off

the back of that

horse & rolled

like a full sack

a feed ended up

a coupla feet from

me those boys a

pologized all over

the place because

i was just a little

girl maybe six or

seven never’d seen

anything killed but

a pig throat slit

in the hogyard

they kicked him

face up & there

was a red mark

where the bullet

had passed thru

i told my dog

not to look but

he was a dog

& looken was good

& that night

death came up

on the back porch

& sang so fine

even the wind

stopped blowen

for awhile


				*Todd Moore's* *The Wolf in the Cornfield*



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