chicken
—poetry by Wayne F. Burke

chicken

the kid in the road
gets a funny look
on his face
when I don't slow
and he scoots aside
as I drive by
and I remember
Dicky
in the high school parking lot
early in the morning
how he hit the windshield
of my car
and went over the roof
and how I watched him
in the rear view mirror
drop
as if out of the sky
and how I stopped
and ran to him
asked if he was alright
and how he got up
and gave me a look
and began to limp
toward the school
and without even one
of his smart-ass remarks
and how I felt
during homeroom period
when I heard my name
announced
over the intercom
by the vice-principle
in his voice-of-doom.

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Wayne F Burke has published two poetry collections, WORDS THAT BURN (2013) and DICKHEAD (2015), both issued by Bareback Press.