Boston Corbett by Michael Ceraolo


From: American Labor:  An Episodic Epic

 Boston Corbett

Some of you may have heard of me:
I am a footnote in American history,
the soldier who killed John Wilkes Booth
(There were those then,
                                    and those now,
who maintain that Booth wasn't killed in the shootout,
yet I was the one called crazy 
and institutionalized)
 
                                   Some of you,
those who have read Scott Martelle's book,
may also remember I was a preacher,
and also know of some of my quirks

Some of you may be wondering
what I am doing in a poem about labor,
considering me not even a footnote there
I couldn't disagree more:
                                       to me,
anyone who ever belonged to a union
is more than a footnote in labor history
I was a proud member of the
Hat Finishers' National Trade Association,
working as a silk-hat finisher
during and between preaching gigs
                                                     And that,
unknown to us hatters at the time,
was most likely what led to my brain problems:
the mercury used on the job
And in this I was not alone

Bio:  "Michael Ceraolo is a retired firefighter/paramedic and active poet who has had one full-length book (Euclid Creek, from Deep Cleveland Press) and a few chapbooks published (among the chapbooks is Cleveland Haiku, from Green Panda Press). He has a second full-length book, Euclid Creek Book Two, forthcoming from unbound content press, and is continually working on new and existing poetry projects.

Comments

  1. Nicely done. And I, for one, have read that book. ;-)

    Regards,
    Scott Martelle

    ReplyDelete

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