A Boy Without A Chance
The path behind the school, well-worn,
Lead to a home-made swing,
An old tire hung with plow-line spun
As laughter then would ring.
~o0o~
Each one of us would take a turn,
Before we left for home.
The last one always? Billy Joe.
Poor kid. Just skin and bone.
~o0o~
He never tried to hurry off.
He did not mind the wait.
He had no one to welcome him,
No care if he was late.
~o0o~
His mom had died when he was small.
A fever took her life.
His father then began to drink.
He missed his loving wife.
~o0o~
The drinking was the worst of it.
It made his father mean.
The more he drank the more he fought.
Their larder oft' was lean.
~o0o~
Poor Billy Joe, ashamed to tell,
Wore bruises no one saw.
Although a bright, quick-learner he
Just went to school by law.
~o0o~
My daddy brought him home one day,
Said he had hired his help,
And Billy Joe would work for him.
"Can't do it all myself!"
~o0o~
So we five girls and Momma too,
Accepted Billy Joe.
We left the men the heavy work,
As off to field they'd go.
~o0o~
Right from the start he ate with us,
And suppertime was changed.
That skinny boy could eat a cow,
He ate as though deranged.
~o0o~
He never spoke a word to us.
He labored quietly.
He'd ease about as though he craved,
Invisibility.
~o0o~
Back and forth from field to barn,
I'd watch him as he crept.
He'd carry wood and clean out stalls,
And sometimes there he slept.
~o0o~
Nobody knew that Billy Joe
Was working for us there.
But teacher noticed his clean clothes,
Now mended with much care.
~o0o~
I never saw my Momma sew
A single stitch or patch,
But I still knew 'twas by her hand,
Her sewing was not matched.
~o0o~
As months and years crawled slowly by
He flourished. Muscles grew.
He used the money daddy paid
For coat and clothes, a few.
~o0o~
His grades improved with food and care.
He moved to top of class.
While Ruben Jones and his whole crew,
Were lucky if they passed.
~o0o~
Now Ruben was a bully-boy.
He liked to hit and pinch.
He'd push until no backing up,
And didn't give an inch.
~o0o~
He hated Billy Joe on sight,
The day he moved to town.
He laughed at him and said his dad
Was just a drunken clown.
~o0o~
Poor Billy Joe just took it all,
And did not give a sign,
That he had heard one single word,
As though he didn’t mind.
~o0o~
Those bullies taunted all of us.
The little ones were scared.
Then one day Ruben knocked me down,
How Billy's temper flared!
~o0o~
For weeks those boys had laughed at him,
And he had taken all,
But when he saw me hit the ground,
His fists became two balls.
~o0o~
In seconds time the bully boys
Lay bruised and bleeding there.
He took my hand and helped me up,
As everybody stared.
~o0o~
My Billy Joe! He'd fought for me,
And told the students then,
"If these boys try to bother you,
Just come and tell me when."
~o0o~
That was the last of bullying,
That we all had to take,
And all because of Billy Joe.
He fought for all our sakes.
~o-o~
When winter came the farm would sleep,
Without much work to do.
So Billy Joe would not show up,
No chores enough for two.
~o0o~
One afternoon as we all walked
The field and woods to roam,
I sent the others down the path,
And followed Billy home.
~o0o~
I’ll not forget, ramshackled mess,
No chimney smoke to see,
I watched him from a hidden spot
Behind a cedar tree.
~o0o~
His father staggered from the door.
He cursed and hit his son.
I couldn’t watch the blows he gave,
Ran to our barn at once.
~o0o~
My Momma found me in the hay,
My tears already spent.
But when I told her what I’d seen,
We both broke down again.
~o0o~
The word spread through our little town
That Billy Joe was hurt.
I heard my parents talking late,
And saw his bloody shirt.
~o0o~
I never knew what Daddy did,
But next day Billy Joe,
Came back to work all black and blue,
Took supper boxed to go.
~o0o~
After several days at home,
Our hero came to school.
Nobody mentioned ought to him,
By our unspoken rule.
~o0o~
The seasons passed so quietly,
That time nigh slipped away.
Sometimes I'd feel his eyes on me,
Look up and smile his way.
~o0o~
No one learned what caused the fire
That burned his old house flat.
But Daddy fixed a cozy room,
Inside our barn out back.
~o0o~
The service for his dad was short,
But Billy cried the while.
A heart so battered, filled with love,
For a man who was so vile.
~o0o~
Long years have passed since we were kids.
The burned-out house is gone,
And in it's place a bungalow,
Stands made of wood and stone.
~o0o~
The flower beds are nestled close,
With roses row on row.
In spring I'll move inside that house.
I'll marry Billy Joe.
~o0o~
My Love will graduate in May
From University,
And then come back to his hometown.
Our doctor he will be.
~o0o~
The boy without a chance in life
Became our town's best friend.
The raggmuffin grew up straight,
A stong trustworthy man.
~o0o~
I think my Daddy said it best,
"Can't do it all myself."
Bad things will come to every life.
Just give a little help.
Music: Dust In The Wind
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oh my goodness!! this was sucha great poem!! i loved it!! You are one talented person...take care, and keep writing!!
♥~Gira/Princessindia07♥
Wonderful story Jess. It reads very well now....the breaks are just what the story needed. Well done. Ken
WOW ! Jess this is an amazing piece of work !! I think you should be very proud of yourself, if only I could write something with this much insperation !!
I'm glad you asked me to read it, t'was a pleasure !!
I'll be back later to read more that I've missed lately :)
Take care girl!
-Sarah- xx
Jessica, there is NOTHING I would take away or add to your beautifully imaginative piece! This reminded me of a song to be sung by Dolly or June Carter-Cash, the narrative, and a background of acoustic blue-grass continually carrying us and the singer along in our own mind's-circuits. Excellent! If you've been observing a dry-spell, then it SURE was worth it!! Teddy.
"Poe" I'm not, nor "Rich" am I,
but I'll be famous, b'ye and b'ye !