I found a skeleton of a bus
so far into the pines, I knew it had been
dropped from the sky, to save me
they had to be far behind,
the other side of the stream, where those hounds
lost my scent
Jed and Tonto didn’t follow me across
the shallows, and I’d bet all the money I ever stole
those curs and the posse ate them up
there was almost half a moon, though
inside the bus was black; outside was freezing
drizzle pattering on the roof
the coat I filched was soaked
my trousers too--nobody told me
Alabama got this cold
if they had
I wouldn’t have believed them
until that night
I curled up in a ball
behind the driver’s seat, shoved
my frozen hands in my shirt
then I heard that hiss, and saw
those eyes--I stayed quiet, more quiet even
than when I hid from John law
then she growled, deep, slow
but I kept watching her eyes--emerald and still, still
in the place I first saw them
then we were both silent
I’d *** my drawers before I’d move
freeze outside... get ate inside
the hours passed fast; I drifted,
dreamed a little of being back inside, and woke
when the sun hit the cracked windshield
she was still there
with two cubs nursing, now used to my smell
I suppose, since she didn’t jump
when I slid down the bus stairs
into the frosty grass, where I saw a doe
chewing forbs, close to the roots
lucky the lion had her babes stuck
to her teats, lucky I was between the cat and prey,
lucky the bus was in that grove
Jul 4, 2016
Jul 4, 2016 at 11:50 PM UTC
I found a skeleton of a bus
so far into the pines, I knew it had been
dropped from the sky, to save me
they had to be far behind,
the other side of the stream, where those hounds
lost my scent
Jed and Tonto didn’t follow me across
the shallows, and I’d bet all the money I ever stole
those curs and the posse ate them up
there was almost half a moon, though
inside the bus was black; outside was freezing
drizzle pattering on the roof
the coat I filched was soaked
my trousers too--nobody told me
Alabama got this cold
if they had
I wouldn’t have believed them
until that night
I curled up in a ball
behind the driver’s seat, shoved
my frozen hands in my shirt
then I heard that hiss, and saw
those eyes--I stayed quiet, more quiet even
than when I hid from John law
then she growled, deep, slow
but I kept watching her eyes--emerald and still, still
in the place I first saw them
then we were both silent
I’d *** my drawers before I’d move
freeze outside... get ate inside
the hours passed fast; I drifted,
dreamed a little of being back inside, and woke
when the sun hit the cracked windshield
she was still there
with two cubs nursing, now used to my smell
I suppose, since she didn’t jump
when I slid down the bus stairs
into the frosty grass, where I saw a doe
chewing forbs, close to the roots
lucky the lion had her babes stuck
to her teats, lucky I was between the cat and prey,
lucky the bus was in that grove
Alabama, Jackson County, 1952
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