Kevin Corcoran's Blog

Men’s Club

The shadows would nip at my beard as
the fire burnt the water in my eyes.
I feared the stench of cigar smoke has
invaded my clothes. The other guys

didn’t care if I sputtered on smoke.
The Father’s gentle southern laugh
buffeted my ears when a good joke
was told when we cut another in half.

Knowing that what we had to say
would improve the conversation,
not thinking if our words would fray
and cause the others hesitation.

Belching out words with a bellow
at the men’s meetings where we
cracked corny chips between yellow
teeth and beer was our sipping tea.

-Kevin Corcoran

Tags: 302poetry, fixed-form, section3

Smell Beauty in Hell

Sarah was possessed by the devil,
and I had to restrain her in a Quaker Shirt.
The illness came quickly,
Causing convolutions and foaming.

Hinde suggested to bring her,
To a hospital in Williamsburg,
Where she would sleep in the dirt,
And have no light of day.

I kept her in the cellar,
With windows for light,
And fed and washed and clothed her,
That she might feel a sliver of comfort.

I buried her out by the cellar,
So that I may always keep watch over her,
And planted that lilac tree,
So that she may smell beauty in hell.

-Patrick Henry
Kevin Corcoran

Tags: 302poetry, persona, section3

She Moved Like a Bathtub

“Big Blue” was her name
and she drove like a bathtub.
Carolina Blue, paying tribute to her owner’s Alma Mater,
With a white top, which pointed her out in a crowd of brunettes.
She was a chunk of steel and slow to move.
As stubborn as he was.
A reliable dodge.

There was a ripped cover on the back bench,
from all the children he piled in.
Black rubber floors for our spills,
And scratches along the brown sides,
Where we played with matchbox cars and legos.

Every Sunday that van would take us to the park
with the bell tower and where I’d splinter myself,
on the wooden playground,
while mom watched football.

It took me to Kilburn Avenue in New York,
To downtown Philly and Raleigh.
On Friday’s to Humphry Caulder,
where I played soccer,
and to Short pump for the movies.

Kevin Corcoran

Tags: 302poetry, portrait, section3