Monday, January 09, 2012

3:54 a.m.

blacker than midnight
no light
spare the red glow
of the clock

went to the bathroom
briefly turned on a small flashlight
to check in the toilet
twenty years ago a rural friend told me

he always checks the bowl
now i always look
he is old now, i owe him
i need to renew his agony

when i see him next time
i’ll remind him by asking
if a snake bit him
on the balls yet.

1 comment:

Annie said...

Hi Jack,

I can actually comment on this from experience, minus the bite or the particular anatomy. In my old two bedroom house built in 1957, in my old neighborhood, with a septic tank system in need of repair, lo and behold, a snake appeared. You can bet after that, long after the problem was corrected, and it was found that the snake had "sneaked" in through a crack in the septic tank lid, and then went for a swim through our plumbing and up through the toilet, I always, always, used a flashlight or a bathroom light in that house, before lifting the lid. And, it's pretty darn close to 3:54 am as I write this. - True stories, I swear.

Take a look at my latest blog post, where you are mentioned, with fondness, along with other good people.