For Badger and Andy
Well if she sings it sharp, he’ll sing her flat
Though they once played a tune the other’s ways.
But ain’t no more rabbits gettin’ pulled from this hat,
Best ones past, moving toward better days.
Yonder come a time when they’ll take it back,
Searching once again for a piece of false peace.
But like violets ain’t blue and the night ain’t black,
Sometimes gold fools fools and foie gras’s just grease.
Same as flame turns to ash and heat from lust
To must, in n’er ends it’s e’r the
same.
But still the morrow calls upon our trust
Like yesterday calls out our every blame.
And she’ll call him out just as he upon her
‘Cause things ain’t what they use
t’ and never were.
— Joanna Tweedy
Raised in the southern reaches of the state, Joanna
Tweedy is presently an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois at
Springfield. A wonder/wanderluster at heart, she’s heartwholly
grateful to Andy Wiesenhofer for introducing her to the wanderings of
Badger Clark, and to Ethan Lewis for imparting to her the unending wonders
of the sonnet.
People’s Poetry accepts poems on any subject,
but ones that deal with issues of local interest are encouraged. Send yours
to Books and Poetry Editor Corrine Frisch c/o Illinois
Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705, or
to cfrisch@illinoistimes.com with “People’s Poetry” in
the subject line.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2005.
