Enough by Bruce Michael Foley

oak

ENOUGH

They treated him like a dog with the mange.

Wasn’t his fault, being born as he was
poor, father gone since birth –
mother at home a drunk now, living
off welfare aid. She meant well once
in a pretty dress on Sunday, pushing the boy
in a baby carriage.

Then time moved on
and not all dreams come true.

She came to finding it hard being alone and overweight
and he, so unkempt, pimple-faced looking
more like her each day, town barber at the window
always called him an odd duck out, when we sat in there
on Saturday’s getting our hair-cut.

Taunts, bullying, the boy being shunned
all through the years adding up, one day
he had enough.

The paper boy it was who found them first
peeking through the porch screen door.

There she was, mouth frozen in disbelief
bleeding all over the kitchen floor, steak knife
buried in her chest, bottle of cheap gin
cracked over her head.

And the boy, out back
swinging from an oak tree.

indexI was born across the bridge from Boston, Massachusetts, in Cambridge, as July 4th fireworks exploded over the Charles River, just a stone’s throw from Harvard University. At age two, my family moved to Somerville, Ma.,where I was raised in a rough blue-collar environment, playing many sports. In 1998 I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, I work among special needs children and teach martial arts. Poetry began in high school, but took off in a more dedicated way in later years, along with resuming music studies, guitar. My poems are published in various anthologies; including Impressions, Prism, and the Mighty Voices Of Thunder Series, sponsored by the international poetry website, “Allpoetry.” I was a featured poet in Lyrical Somerville February 2015, a Boston based publication, as well as being an “Editor’s Front Page Pick,” for the month of March 2016 on Allpoetry. A defining moment that contributed significantly to further interest in writing was a First Place Award from the International Poetry Fellowship, for my poem, “Among Fields of Cotton.” Presently, I am happy to have the opportunity to explore various forms of poetry with Mr. Bruce Isaacson, Poet Laureate of Clark County Nevada.

2 Replies to “Enough by Bruce Michael Foley”

    • Thank you, Mr. N.Y. Cool Blackpool.
      I read James Senetto often. A gifted artist in various mediums, his poetry is alive with pleasurable tastes and colors. Jimmy gives his readers a never let down. His New York city background lends a truly concrete, no fluff bullshit to his craft.

      And a craftsman he is. I discovered Senetto one stumbling night, about three years ago. Maybe it was the Jim Beam brought me to his door. Maybe a ghost of fate. I bumped into him after a few too many, and I’m glad for it. I found a treasure, rare.

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