Kevin's Watch

Abraham Lincoln

we minded our manners around
midnight. we collected in the spring,
was it a thing? he was a gate of the
state. he was here around midnight,

in our small city. an illustration of
morning manners did not stop with
the rough sketch. Detroit tormented
the old stage of law. he opened the

courts and started from odd. we knew
him by his major status and by his
court of shades. he remained where
his children maintained to play. odder

by the market, or the stone he carried
then. he sat on the porch with dimes
marring a stern brand. he began far
from the top. he was a bronze husband
and an empty man! people complained

of his old black visage. a high higher -
hat celebrated and a level scarf carried
form. we saw the large illustration and
wondered what the men were like. he

was the lawyer from the grass country.
he became the master of us all. you
could not sleep after the side of a hill.
it formed part of us. we had one hour

before the setting! and we traced for
length to throw. we breathed to begin;
it led us to a door. our heads were at
our elbows. we thought of men as

kings. yes! our sick world cried; as it
could. we fought for sleep; in a much
pleasant fight. we knew little, not much
in a major status. even in black terror

we could not cry. the sins of the lords
led to war. we burned our hearts.
we did not see fear and we scoured each
control principal. we carried our shoulders

on a packing of scarves. the land-marks
were kept at equal distances. his ending
case caused our pain. we could not paddle
our spirits to a stop. the sun did not shine

hot. we flung our troubles towards the east
for release. we formed a league of sober
people. the workers gathered in masses.
with the country and the sea to our backs

we began his last parade. we waited for the
long peace to take hold. it broke our hearts
when the king was off-stage. we still demanded
whole hours of work for men. we believed

considering to be futile. we sued for peace.
we built statues for him. we made coins for
him. we cannibalized his speeches. and we
buried him low and in a shallow grave.

bump for corrections and tweaking of format.

it's very interesting...
I'm hit or miss with the effectiveness/artistry of what you write [though that's often simply taste....and this one is powerful throughout, IMHO, and "bronze husband...empty man" f-ing brilliant]

but I am always fascinated by the topic and angle of approach.

thank you vraith. at least i hit at times.

you may find this odd - but some works are intensive and i can detail. some (like this) i have no clear memory of writing.

i can remember bits of decision making on this.

"you
could not sleep after the side of a hill."

i can clearly remember reworking that line a few times til it came out that way.

i will admit on this i love the line

"our heads were at
our elbows"

as a sign of grief.

i also like the bronze/empty line that you mentioned.

i do appreciate when people (like yourself) take time to comment. so thank you.