If I Could Start Again (Johnny Cash) Poem by Amanda Purczynski

If I Could Start Again (Johnny Cash)



I'm a C+ Christian.
Needles have torn holes
leaving a familiar sting
that will never fade.
I've collected more bottles
than I can count.
I have an empire of dust
that I would gladly give
to June,
for nothing.
I'm bad faith in name,
but gracious in nature.
I lost my fire in Jackson,
and a sheriff from Jericho
has my warrant.
I've talked to the man
from Galilee,
and warned
the midnight rider.
I've ran for a long time
trying to catch the Devil's herd.
But I'm an old cowboy now,
and my horse doesn't
breathe fire like it used to.
I haven't given up
those endless skies.
I've given in.
I listen for the shuffle
of angel's feet,
and wonder what I've become
as I sit upon my liars chair.
I put that loving 42'
beneath my head,
setting down the whiskey
and letting the cocaine be.
I'm dressed in black,
just as I've always been.
I've walked the line
for as long as I can.
Now I'm somewhere else
full of broken thoughts
and your someone else.
I hear that prisons
have great acoustics.
And I hope Hell does too
because I've got a 99 year sentence.

Thursday, April 24, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: regret
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Told from the persona of Johnny Cash.
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