Overalls

Overalls

Melvin Bellwether

I intend to work in heaven, just as it is on earth,
tightening up the undersides of diamond sinks,
untightening them first, if need. Hope Moses will
call me up to replace his pipes—copper, PEX,
steel, bamboo, who cares what—at least as many
times as I’ve been forgiven. Hope death don’t 
put me out of work for long, like the Depression
did my daddy. Let the hour be just one second
on God’s clock, brief as a Sunday nap, and I’ll be 
good for the rest. O give me a red Toro, an acre
to ride. Give me joy that bulges like the veins
from an old man’s hands. Lord, give me at least
one more year on this side of a headache
I will never understand.

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Melvin Bellwether
Poet

A character created by the poet Josiah Cox, whose poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Commonweal, Christianity and Literature, The North American Anglican Poet’s Corner, and elsewhere.

This essay is featured in Ekstasis Issue 10 Print Edition

Photography by Ivan Bandura