by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Mike Butcher makes his point. From his home,
his town is Leg-O-Land, red roofs like plastic bricks,
peat sod walls separate green Monopoly houses from brick
hotels. Beyond, Stanley harbor idles, a mirror, Falkland's
connection to the world. Near Pioneer Road, Mike's gate
--a Magellenic penguin, iron-wrought--does not invite
me in. No need, really. Rusty cannon so close
I could touch it through the fence, its voice
a hand-scrawled sign, 22,000 lives it took
from '37 to '65. Remnants of its deeds pock
his yard. Over there beside Mike's potato patch,
a Minke jaw, farther on a sperm whale's spine,
here harpoon clusters like arrows emblem-eagles
clasp in talons, explosives bound
to each to assure their spurs wreak instant death.
We needn't chat over tea, Mike and I.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This is the Place, and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered are both award-winners. Her fiction, nonfiction and poems have appeared in national magazines, anthologies and review journals. She speaks on culture, tolerance, writing and promotion and has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide. Her how-to book, The Frugal Book Promoter won USA Book News' Best Professional Book 2004 and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings, is now available from Finishing Line Press. Carolyn is the founder of Authors' Coalition and editor of the newsletter for that organization as well as a blog that helps authors turn a dull book fair booth into a sizzling success. Her website is: http://carolynhowardjohnson.com.
