BEECHER SMITH
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Cold Gray Thanksgiving Day
On a cold gray Thanksgiving Day
down a brown dirt country road,
still stuffed from dinner, I walk with my wife
and my little Boston Terrier.
Behind, beside a warm wood fire,
almost grown, two teenage daughters
have no time except for television
and Tom Cruise,
so my mate, the icy wind, and Major Lee
accompany me.
My walking stick stands
between us and two cur dogs
who respect its danger,
but Major in his male delusion
thinks they have backed off because of him.
It is one thing to face and cope with
elements and animals in Nature;
yet another to deal with human nature.
Making my living as a lawyer
killing other people's hopes and dreams,
trying to preserve those of my clients,
hoping one day to succeed
as a writer,
I wonder how much good
have I really done
protecting the illusions
of my loved ones?
[317]
Morning at East Elementary School
Separate but equal, holding hands,
On the schoolhouse steps they stand:
Two little girls--one black, one white--
Waiting for class to begin.
Equal now in the eyes of the law,
Equal as sisters in pain;
Poverty holds back either race,
But white makes it easy to gain.
They will grow up to find their place
Equal as sisters in pain;
Divided in race, divided in pace,
Divided families, divided in shame.
Little white girl will see the time
Her black friend won't come to play;
Little black girl will see the time
Her white friend will turn away.
Separate but equal, holding hands,
On the school house steps they stand:
Two little girls--one black, one white--
Waiting for class to begin.
[318]
Paulie the Parrot
Paulie the parrot lived content inside his cage
In a San Francisco pet shop, until the widow Gage
Saw him through the store window and bought him,
Unaware of what bad manners someone else had taught him.
When they arrived at her mansion high up on Nob hill,
Those elegant trappings he saw gave him quite a thrill--
Marble tile, oriental rugs, crystal everywhere--
Such sights drove Paulie in a frenzy to declare:
"My, oh my, feed me cheese just like a mouse,
But, sweet Jesus, lady, you have such a fancy house!"
In shock, the widow Gage brusquely told her bird,
"This place is a Christian home, I'm stunned at what I heard;
To cure you of such speech I think that I shall park
You in the downstairs closet where it's very, very dark."
And so, for half an hour's time, the prissy widow Gage
Left Paulie in the darkness, perched inside his cage;
Hoping he'd learned his lesson, she finally brought him out
And took him to the dining room, to show him all about--
Irish linens, wedgewood china, polished silver everywhere--
Such sights drove Paulie in a frenzy to declare:
"My, oh my, feed me cheese just like a mouse,
But, sweet Jesus, lady, you have such a fancy house!"
In shock, the widow Gage brusquely told her bird,
"This place is a Christian home, I'm stunned at what I heard;
I warned you not to use such speech, so now I think I'll park
You inside the icebox where it's cold as well as dark."
Within the refrigerator, Paulie's beak began to chatter
His eyes adjusted as he looked down upon a platter
Where next to him, half-carved, a Christmas turkey lay--
"Good Lord! Cousin," he exclaimed, "whatever did you say?"
[319]
Beecher Smith attended Millsaps College where he received his B.A. degree
in 1971. He obtained his law degree from the University of Tennessee in
1974.
Smith is the author of Recovering My Sanity: Poems and Short Stories
(Zapizdat Publications, 1996)(Xlibris Corp., 2000); he also writes horror-suspense
stories. Smith was named the MidSouth Writers Association poet laureate
in 1996 and the Association's prose writer of the year for 1998. From 1994
to 1995 he served as president of the Poetry Society of Tennessee, and
in 1995 was named poet laureate of the society.
Smith served as the personal attorney for Elvis Presley during the last
year of his life. He is now a solo practitioner in Memphis. |
