CONFESSIONAL POEM


I have this large tattoo on my chest.  It is like a dream I have while I am awake.  I see it in the mirror as I shave and brush my teeth, or when I change my shirt or make love.  What can I do?  I can't remember where I got the tattoo.  When in the past did I live such a life?  And the price of having such a large tattoo removed must be completely beyond reason.  Still, the workmanship of the drawing is excellent, a landscape 8xl0 inches in full color, showing cattle going downhill into a small western town.  A young man, who might have been my great-grandfather, dressed as a cowboy and holding a rifle, stands at the top of the hill and points down toward the town.  The caption beneath the picture reads: "Gosh, I didn't know we were this far west."


© 2008 by Louis Jenkins


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