small town melodies / poems by joseph felkers

WILLIAM TELL

I remember playing the william tell
overture and the farmer who forecasted the weather
and elections, and sometimes I think about
it all and my place in it when often
I realize it couldn’t’ve ever happened.
Root beers and bug spray melting into 401k’s
I remember sitting at the stoplight that
was always red and realizing that
everything breaks

TWENTY FIVE OVER FIFTY FIVE

august eleventh
ninety four degrees
small town, big dreams
its dark outside
besides occasional lightning cracks
its only heat lightning darling
turn off the radio
twenty five over fifty five
crickets provide a soundtrack
harmonious rubber to rubble
racing through a small town at eleven twenty six
I glance a second and I know you’re beautiful
but I cry because the only feeling you know
in this god forsaken town is the bruises
that outline your father’s love for you
fags are only cigarettes