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Video—Nuremberg Museum
by Stephen Gibson

July 8, 2020 Contributed By: Stephen Gibson

 

He watches from a field; he’s there to gloat—

the video is from a cattle-car point of view;

grinning, the boy draws a finger across his throat.

 

The middle of nowhere—mountains, small, remote;

the name of some village no one ever knew—

he watches from a field; he’s there to gloat.

 

A region rich in wheat, barley, oat—

whatever seed was planted there, it grew:

grinning, the boy draws a finger across his throat.

 

The car slows, passing—space is like a moat—

alone—but as if the head of a queue:

he watches from a field; he’s there to gloat.

 

A breeze—for a moment, his white sleeves float—

the car picks up speed—he’s still in view:

turning, the boy draws a finger across his throat.

 

And he’s gone—the video ends—all dust motes—

all those years ago—some boy who knew:

he watches from a field; he’s there to gloat;

grinning, the boy draws a finger across his throat.

Filed Under: Poetry Posted On: July 8, 2020

Further Reading

Red Memory
by Christian Sorace

After his collection of over 200 Chairman Mao souvenir buttons was stolen a few weeks prior, on February 25th, 2012, 71 year-old Li Decai used a red belt to hang himself from a beam two meters high in a shed in his bean and carrot field.1 Li Decai became a local celebrity in the county-town […]

March Madness Flash Fiction Contest!

The top 16 contenders will be selected by MAYDAY fiction editors and the winners will be determined by popular vote on social media beginning March 14.

A Footprint in the Ashes of Time
by Dmitry Blizniuk, translated from the Russian by Sergey Gerasimov

If it wasn’t for our inborn optimism –
we drop coins into the sea, plant pear trees that are going to grow for centuries –
understanding of reality would burn us
like a match may burn poplar fluff

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