Robbie Knievel, son of Evel Knievel, plans to out-do his famous father by jumping moving trains in East Texas' newspaper story

I expect you to rise out of red clay, Daddy,
companion to my anaclisis. Beloved daughter,
your shameful child of will, full-grown
girl afraid of the dark, afraid
no one will ever tell the truth or stay.

On the edge of dawn I carve a space
where I will wrestle from your hands
at last, beg this boon with stale breath.

Pace the rooms I have made myself;
solipsism dogging my ankles. I will
remain lucid, mindful of your ghost,

The journey seems the same
as yesterday. I learn nothing new,
leave no compulsion untried.
Like the man who jumps trains
because he can, I will empty time.  

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Shann Palmer is a Texan living in Virginia where she hosts poetry readings and works with Poetry in the Schools. Her work can be found in print and on the web in The Alsop Review Anthology, Eclectica, Melic Review, Gin Bender, and Mot Juste, among others. Her latest chapbooks, Second Printing and In the Ordinary Course of Events, are available at readings or on her website by mail.
Website: http://groups.msn.com/FlashPaperPoetry
 

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