February 9, 2005
Boyhood Games
by Neal Hanson
One jerk and with that thrown
A tin can waits to be knocked over.
Five on a log, the country fair in my backyard
No cheaply stuffed dragons or bears
Just pride-a-sadistic denting in the works.
Hormel stands rust rigid
Blindfolded with a cigarette dangling
Hearing each miscalculated throw--whiz
I hit the brush instead, up comes dust and silverfish
disturbed by this nuclear basalt.
Neal Hanson lives and works in Seattle, Washington. He received a B.A. in English, with creative writing emphasis, from the University of Washington. Recent or forthcoming publications include Tin Lustre Mobile, Coffee House Poetry, Mastodon Dentist, and VOX.
