posse
posse
in 5th grade I beat-up a 6th grader
in the schoolyard
and after school
the 6th grader and
a posse of his friends
chased me and a buddy
around
the neighborhood
until we were treed
like coons
on the roof of the
Farnham’s garage
and Mr. Farnham,
with half a bag on,
screamed at us
to get down
and we did
and the 6th grader
started to beat on my buddy
and I went to his aid
and got beat on
by the rest
until
from the Farnham’s block
3 girls ran out
and saved me
because,
they afterwards
said,
the fight was not fair:
none of us knowing
then
that
nothing is.
© Wayne F. Burke
Wayne F. Burke’s poetry has appeared in Lost Coast Review, American Tanka, Brickplight, Phantom Kangaroo, Tipsy Lit, Toasted Cheese, Industry Night, Crack the Spine, and elsewhere. His two books of poems, WORDS THAT BURN (2013) and DICKHEAD (2015), are published by Bareback Press.
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