Hunters and Gatherers
Preston and Kelly hooked up a trailer to the Expedition that carried a golf cart sized All-Terrain Vehicle. On the drive up to the mountain Kelly couldn’t hide his disappointment with missing his session of Warlords. “Come on boy, head up, shoulders straight,” Preston ordered.
“Aw Dad, when you gonna let me get in on the harvest?”
“It’s a man’s job and you need to be of age.”
“By that time,” Kelly objected, “I’ll be in boot camp.”
“Cheer up Son, I’ve got a surprise for you today. I’ve bought a new Serbian Double Eagle with the laser target pointer and we’re gonna do some shootin’.”
“You mean it?!? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not quite legal yet here in the home of the brave but got it through Amazon.”
“You’re the best. Now I can shoot some demons in the woods.”
“Now remember boy what the Good Book says?” Preston cued his son . “Praise the lord…”.
“And pass the ammunition.” Kelly completed the aphorism, while thinking to himself, “And do unto others before they do unto you.”
Casey Bush is a Portland poet whose eighth collection Student of Hippocampus was published in 2018 by Last Word Press (Olympia, WA). His essay “Sisters Around the Cauldron: Mary Barnard and Her Sappho” was recently posted on the Berlin based website The Decadent Review. Casey is the poetic voice of Notes & Motes: The Vlatkovich Trio Plus One. He recommends Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
