In The Blind

“This is really about self-confidence, boy. Ain’t nothing but believing in yourself. Trust that you’ve done the work. Trust you spent years sighting in your aim, getting the right feel to your finger, the correct angle to your heft. Trust that you’ve learned to spot them signs, follow them tracks even through them brambles. Trust yourself to know s**t from dirt, boy, and what kind of s**t it is, how old it is. Trust that you’ve done the maintenance on the machine, everything is oiled up right and will work like you need it to. Trust that you’ve worked off your smell, and they won’t know you’re coming. Trust that when you’ve got it in your sights, when you feel your finger on that trigger, boy, everything will come out ok. There’s nothing in them woods you can’t take down, boy, if you have the right attitude.” Stubbed out his cigarette and tossed off the last of his dented silver-canned beer. “Come to think of it, I guess that applies to everything. If you trust yourself, boy, there ain’t nothing you can’t take down.”

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

This poem debunks the common perception that wisdom comes from formal education. Some of the wisest men I've met were outdoorsmen, hard men who learned to live among nature, but always sought to maintain status as the super predator. Our brains have this capacity, to be more than we might know, especially young. Age bruises us but also informs us. We learn we're stronger than we thought, and if we listen to nature and our elders, we'll be a little smarter, too.

I've known men like this, JR. One was my father's close friend (a firefighter who died in the line of duty several years ago). He was a cigarette smoker, overweight, and carried a six pack into the woods on every hunt. He was probably the finest hunter I've known. So much for myths. A darn good write. I really like your style of writing.

[JR]

Thanks, much appreciated. I'm spending some time digging in my roots.

[R.E. Ray]

Always my pleasure, JR. You're one of the better writers in the Cafe.

[JR]

Oh man, I appreciate it. I feel the same way about you.