square-jawed man

the man with the square jaw

who chewed his gums like stringy steak

kept staring at me at the vinyard

and i didn’t know how to make

eye contact without telling him

to stop looking, break the string

that arches between us

like tight ropes mooring the boats

soda pop French fries

look into my red eyes square-jawed man

and tell me what it was like to be young

i’m sure you were once young

so tell me how you got to be

so square-jawed

how’d you get the slow dance with

that old dame, sir you can’t

have been so lame in the 70s

you remind me of my dad

so free so tied, dance until you cry

because god looked down and saw

you with the curly-haired dame 

and there wasn’t room for him between you

and when you looked up at the ceiling

you felt like everything was the same

old square-jawed man

when you broke your hand

on the strings of that guitar

you came so far you lost your time

on the steps drinking wine

man have you lost your mind?

and where can i lose my mind — on the steps

before an alter and a cross i broke myself

on a square-jawed axe