Small Difference
We bought
a jackknife
for our son
his first
I thought the
blade was sharp
you liked the
Autobiography
I stopped thinking
About my name today
When in the truck
Returning home with
My son after working
Together at a farm
Splitting wood
Picking kindling
Around the chopping
Stump, slinging manure
Onto the winter garden
And later hiking
High into the heather
Pasture, now in the
Truck with his gloves
Still on he sized it
Up by saying he didn’t
Like the name Bob — it
Was too short, only three
Letters — and it sounded
Like a name half-city
Half-country
Suddenly Mississippi
he lost his
lucky rabbit’s
foot, green with
a key-chain in
Greenwood, MS
so returning to
find it wait-
ress brought
it to us on
a tray
Hereditary
I kid him
& he argues
with me which
turns me to
argue with
him as he
begins to
kid me
————————————
BOB ARNOLD
I'm In Love With You
Who Is In Love With Me
Longhouse 2012
