The hammered silver

Red touches Yellow death says hello....

Pretty good carpenter
little tack hammer
Lettered building blocks
Red yellow blue
Then a balance arch to fix the roofing nails,
Stripped to the sun,The Gringo with the Mexican tan
Summer fun yellow blue red, a life
So I became a fencer
Smooth wire
A bigger one to drive the steeples
into the post
But the post became a locust
and the wire grew barbs
So I grabbed another
A heavy sledge and railroad spikes
Arose from my ape form
Tall
Red Yellow Blue
Sound the whistle, built the steam
a life...
Then
Sounds as thunder , Potato Wagons rolling,
Thunder way off in the distance....
I see her everywhere.
Red yellow Black

Author's Note

this snake color reference is only true in North America , in other parts of the world , their color patterns differ and some have no pattern at all... But we are pre- programmed to steer clear of all snakes in general,kind of like we have a self preservation gear to call a friend ,angel, when the fit really hits the sham.

Reviews

[John]

The poet as craftsman, constructing a building that might rise above this vale of tears and fears. The hammer blows beat a mantra of the symbolic red, yellow and blue, blazing like swatches in a Rothko painting. There is a surreal humour too, the wire turning barbed and the arm turning into a hammer, suggestive of a kind of Christ-like missionary zeal. But life rolls on, despite the torments and the tragedy. This is a really fine piece of writing. The penultimate line, I see her everywhere, so moving..

[lee von cleef]

You know , I heard a quote, now I can't remember by who, but the "Jest" ? (what kind of word is that?) of it , ? better to give the receive ? no, better to empower ? no,dang I will find it I'll re boot...yes these reviews do me well...

[Marie Anzalone]

"red on black, friend of Jack, red on yellow, kills a fellow"

Fascinating how something so beautiful is so deadly. Many North American natives believe you acquire an animal totem, native to your land, to guide you through life; you can also change totems or acquire secondary ones as your travels expand you. I once met a woman that I think was coral snake totem. As beautiful as a Mexican desert sunset, deadly poisonous as her lowly inhabitants. I think the Indians of Mexico and the SW adopted so much color into their palette as a homage to all things that keep a man honest in these parts- red dust, yellow corn, black rings on coral snakes, green for the color of miracles. It is no accident. Fencepost digging is hard, honest work, but there are always barbs of some kind to get you. Hats off to you on a wonderful poem.

[Tree]

Time; the colored building blocks. More time, more living and more metaphors... A tragedy beyond my wild imagination. You can never forget.

Evocative piece,Lee