The scales have fallen away.
They all want me to rosy up my glasses
I won’t be
The polish on their jewelry
Why should I paint pictures of asses?
Its all there
Right in front of me
The world is a fountain of miracles
They try
To sweep the pieces away
When everything is made of pieces
I walk
On the mud and rock
I smell the sweat of honest labor
We close
Our eyes and look to the sky
Blind leading the blind into peril.
Rough hands
Means I know I’m touching the world
Rough men
Means I know they’re not lying
Rough land
Means the dirt and weeds are mine
It’s a rough life here in the real world.
This man who cuts the meat I eat
This girl whose cow gives me milk
This elder who fights against the night
We smell the smoke
We feel the kiss of fire
We grit our teeth
We feel desire.
Royalty fealty meal ticket slavery
Foolery toolery class war schoolry
Forget all of that, forget all of that.
Magic, mischief magpies and mud
Dogs in the street, cows chewing cud
Cloudy days and rabbit’s feet
The list gets longer, the certainty stronger
Silence in motion, sound like an arrow
Nothing you’ve seen before . Out of your marrow
Wearing the clothes of a boring endeavor
The language we lost the connection is severed
I am not blind
Theres a story to tell
I am not deaf
I’m a voice down a well
I’m not mad
I am ringing the bell
I know that
I am going to hell
I
Bret Hamilton is a teacher of English, Speech, and Drama at Central High School in Pueblo, Colorado. He is also a dancer, actor, mime, and prize-winning film-maker. He has taught, choreographed, mimed and danced in six states over the past 30+ years. His poetry and prose has been published in zombiepoetry.com, Towers, Grassroots, Scientific Problems Itself, Wildcat tales and a couple other print publications. Hamilton sometimes writes lyrics and makes music videos for Steve Ball, a Seattle Musician. His video, "Unwound", won the Pueblo 24 Hour Film Festival in 2013. His blog, "Language is the arbitrary currency of meaning" is at zoegraceli18.wordpress.com. He dances with PICO (Pueblo Improvisers Community Orchestra) and sometimes the Sangre de Christo Ballet.
