GALE ACUFF

Homer

I don't want to die but it's something to

do, not that I want to do anything

but play baseball and eat burritos and

watch TV and go to movies and read

comic books and tell dirty jokes, I mean

I don't mind someone telling 'em to me

and I'm only 10 and no one dies at

10 unless they're murdered or drowned or

have cancer or burn up in a car crash

or some country's air force bombs them but then

we're all dying is what they swear at church

and Sunday School, some faster than others

but whether you're 10 or 100 you

never stand still, so to speak, you move on

into Eternity, that's pretty much

religion, not that it's pretty but that's

life, ha ha, and I guess if folks had no

fear of death they wouldn't bother with God,

they'd play baseball and I mean all the time

or a lot more of it, then fun would be

everybody's Eternity and this

morning after Sunday School I told my

teacher that maybe God doesn't want us

to believe in Him or doesn't care if

we do so long as we don't hurt others

but when we do apologize and ask -

no, beg - for some forgiveness and leave it

at that. And when I said Goodbye, she didn't.

Still Warm

I love Satan--I'd like to see the look

on Miss Hooker's face when I tell her so,

which I won't. She's my Sunday School teacher

but I can't seem to get her attention

the way I want, the kind of attention

that's called love, the kind of love that's romance

and engagement and marriage and then come

babies, as many as we can pump out

though I'm not sure how, exactly, I'm just

10 to Miss Hooker's 25 and that's

pretty old, 25 that is, too old

for me to figure right now but if she'll

wait until I'm 16 maybe she'll go

out with me, on a date, on a real date

I mean. But the only love she likes is

the love of God, it seems, and Jesus and

the Holy Ghost, so what I've got to do

is grow at least enough until I start

shaving, and have a voice like a real he-man,

and driving would be good, too, so we won't

have to walk or hitch a ride or ask my

father to take us to the picture show

or a restaurant. The Korn Dawg King's good.

She has her own car and drives herself to

church every Sunday but how will she

rest her head on my shoulder if she's at

the wheel? Of course I would take over but

I'd rather have my own car--pickup truck

would be better, with that bed in the back

where we could lie and gaze at the stars, which

I know a lot about because up there's

Heaven, or somewhat beyond them, where God

hangs and prayers go faster than light for

Him to listen to and decide which ones

He'll answer. So far He hasn't answered

mine, or if He has I don't recognize

His language but I bet He's smart enough

to speak English if He really wants to.

The only thing Miss Hooker loves is my

soul but it's my heart I hope she'll jump for.

This morning before class she warned me that

I'm going to go to Hell if I keep

bringing comic books to church, even

reading them at home--I should be reading

the Bible, she said. Yes ma'am, I said, like

I meant it, but I lied, and lying's sin

and sin upon sin piles up to Hell. All

she cares about is my immortal soul.

Fooey--there's more to immortality

and I'd tell her so but the shock might kill

her and there I'd be, in our portable

classroom after Sunday School with a dead

Miss Hooker on my hands. Before I'd call

anyone to rescue us I'd give her

a kiss right on the lips while she's still warm.

There's probably a law against that but

there wouldn't be any witnesses save

God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost and

I have faith that they won't spill. Maybe that

will be the answer to one of my prayers

and the Hell of it is I didn't ask.

I'd better not tell her I love Satan.

Last night I dreamt that I did and she said

So do I. Then I dropped down dead, and woke.

I have had poetry published in Ascent, Chiron Review, McNeese Review, Adirondack Review, Weber, Florida Review, South Carolina Review, Carolina Quarterly, Arkansas Review, Poem, South Dakota Review, and many other journals. I have authored three books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel (BrickHouse Press, 2004), The Weight of the World (BrickHouse, 2006), and The Story of My Lives (BrickHouse, 2008). I have taught university English in the US, China, and the Palestinian West Bank.