HANK

 

I wished I had never met you, Hank.

I wished I had never married you.

I wished to God you had never drank.

I wished our daughter had never come.

I wished you never had bruised and battered me.

But Hank, when you harmed our daughter

I had to put that gun to your head

Sorry Hank, I had to pull the trigger

And even though they call it manslaughter

And even though I am still your wife

And even now more certain it is for life

I’d do it again, you sonnofabitch!

 

Clinton Van Inman was born in England, 1945, but has lived in America all his life. He graduated from SDSU with a BA in philosophy, 1977. He is a high school teacher in Hillsborough County, Fl., living in Sun City Center with his wife Elba. Though never belonging to any schools of poetry he has always been associated with the Beat poets as one of the few remaining Beat poets who still bang the drum (slower now) for the cause.