The old poet Stood atop His belching tractor Shirtless The scar in his chest Shone In my young sun My August youth Tossing Cords of beech Down to me He railed At someone At something The blue sky And he is living Still Today

DAN O’BRIEN is a poet and playwright. A recent Guggenheim Fellow in Drama & Performance Art, his third poetry collection, New Life, is out now with CB Editions in London and forthcoming from Hanging Loose Press in Brooklyn.