[John Riley]

Revision

Orphanage

I still don’t know how scientific it was
to burn white liquor in a glass ashtray
and hope it burnt blue and was safe
for the old guys to keep pouring half-glasses
into fermented muscadine juice.
I do know I watched the same men
drink almost everyday and that sometimes
they were joined by Blondie
who had a little boy she’d named Clark
because she liked the Superman TV show so much.
One night she started crying because her Clark
would never be a superman, would
never even be able to count to five.
I’d never see him on the school bus.
Clark spent most of his life in a home over in Thomasville
because he had to be carried everywhere he went.
He was getting too big for Blondie to pick up
so she asked old Doss to help.
I remember the old man’s red face
as he hefted Clark up and down the steps
and across the dirt stretch between the house
and the parked trucks and cars.
I realized later Clark was a Down-syndrome child.
I had never heard of that.
I only knew he was a burden to everyone and that Blondie
was drooling as much as Clark the day
she put him in my arms and said,
“Here, you watch him for a while.”




Orphanage

I still don’t know how scientific it was
to burn white liquor in a glass ashtray
and hope it burnt blue and was safe
for the old guys to keep pouring half-glasses
into fomented muscadine juice.
I do know I watched the same men
drink almost every day and that sometimes
they were joined by Blondie.
Blondie had a little boy she’d named Clark
because she loved the Superman TV show.
One night she started crying because her Clark
would never be a superman, he would never even be able to count to five.
Clark spent most of his life in a home over in Thomasville
because he had to be carried everywhere he went.
He was getting too big for Blondie to pick up
so she asked old Doss to help.
I remember the old man’s red face
as he hefted Clark up and down the steps
and across the dirt stretch between the house
and the parked trucks and cars.
I realized later Clark was a down-syndrome child.
I had never heard of that. I only knew he was helpless
and a burden to everyone and that Blondie
was drooling as much as Clark the day
she put him in my arms and said,
“Here, you watch him for a while.”