Swesish Saga
Gerda left Sweden with an odd liking for turnips.
She claimed hard labor ruined her hands.
She hated her father.
Fritchof walked like an ex-sailor.
He had a vein-blue tattoo on his left hand.
He once sailed the Red Sea and grew a mustache.
They met in Vancouver. A brown wedding oval preserves
her stiff upper lip, his doubting earnestness.
She made him smoke his after-dinner cigar
in a corner where he taught me chess.
On the morning he died my mother removed the half pint
of Jim Beam from his bed-table drawer.
Gerda now reads the Bible to her son.
He is 50 and masturbates in the tub.
They go to faith healers.
He has actually seen the Devil!
Categories:
gerda, bible, christian, death, marriage,
Form: Verse
Broremann, the farmer worker.
Every morning at five thirty sharp, my brother Broremann
had to milk five cows by hand bring bucket full of goodness
to the scullery where maid sifted it and in a churn it went.
He had to start milking Rose first, she was the mother cow
other cows wouldn´t give milk unless he started with her.
After milking Broremann had to clean the barn five cows
make a lot of dung; he pushed it down in a hole in the wall
it was later used to fertilize the land. My brother was proud
of his ability to milk and his hands were, firm yet gentle.
There was a problem though Rose didn´t yield as much milk
as before as she was getting elderly and the farmer sold her
to the knacker’s yard. It was a sad day and the other cows
mooed woefully. The farmer bought a new cow to take Rosa´s
place, but Broremann couldn´t milk her first, as she was new-
comer, so he started with Gerda, now the oldest cow, and milk
the new one last, thus rural peace continued in the cow shed.
Categories:
gerda, dedication, funny, nature, parody,
Form: Blank verse