"Burned Boy" by Elaine Smokewood read by Najah Hylton
Channel: Remembering Dr. Elaine Smokewood, Poet and Teacher
Date: 28/10/2014

Burned Boy by Elaine Smokewood

Ten years later
He's in the news again,
Confronting his father in prison.
He's making the TV talk shows rounds,
Leeza, Montel, Sally Jessie Raphael,
Golf cap perched atop
Visageless procelain mask,
Roy Orbison shades,
A nearly invisible boy.

I watch just long enough to comprehend
What I'm seeing--thirty seconds, tops,
I swear, the sound muted--
Then on to reruns and games:
You Bet Your Life, Jeopardy,
The Life of Riley, Queen for a Day,
Wheel of Fortune, Happy Days,
Wild Kingdom, Death Valley Days,
This is Your Life. Unsolved Mysteries.

Am I the cowardly type for turning away
From the unbearable? Or just another ghoul,
Eyes glued to his featureless face,
Rubber neck pivoting for a glimpse
Of thrillingly personal wounds,
Obscenely private parts,
Before cruising past into an afternoon
Of music videos, home decorating hints,
Weather patterns drifing across the continent?

These aren't the questions that matter.
Will the burned boy wake one morning,
Rain falling on the rooftop in a torrent,
Dissolving his father's fantasy of rage,
Slick, scarred skin sloughed,
Exuviae of suffering
Shed in a heap on the bedclothes,
His small head healed and whole,
Stunned by his own perfection?


Creative Commons license: BY-NC-SA