To Mock a Killingbird
a meditation on Harper Lee and E.E. Cummings
Some craniums
would better serve the world
as containers for geraniums,
red
like Mayella’s
in broken
jars on windowsills,
fanning crimson petals
in the sweltering summer
air.
Hey, boy! Wanna earn a nickel?
(Wanta spend six dollars, kid?)
Bust up
this chiffarobe,
(2 for the room and 4 for the girl)
Nineteen (and)
Centuries
(when she smiled),
a man’s life
hanging
in the balance
between
shame and punishment.
(Whadaya say, dear?)
Let’s spend some flowers
(geraniums red as lips)
on his grave.
(six dollars?)
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing!
Intrusive rhyme bothers me, except as a weapon.
Intertextuality is my passion.
Formalist/ New Critical are my guiding theories.
My words are mine, not a robot’s.
MA English literature, CofC
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