Anne Tibbitts writes

Joe’s Coveralls

Faded green sets a stage for the backdrop of woods.

Deer have seen these coveralls. A Raccoon once sniffed them.

Go into the woods for gathering kindling

Build a great fire that will burn for ten thousand years.

Find a coffee shop in the middle of the woods in your coveralls in the cover of you inside a mirror that you won’t even look into because you are afraid you won’t see anyone looking back.

When he zips up his coveralls, the universe smiles

No one wants to see him fail

But the cards are always stacked against him, stacked in piles

All crooked with wind mess, with a footstep, with a cloud

You need a woman as strong as an oak tree

As hot as a lightning rod

Who can fry you a steak every night

You need a friend who will prod you to move

To inspire you to live again

When you wear your coveralls, you hide yourself

In the name of firing up a chainsaw

In the name of eating bacon before departing

In the name of wanting everything to go your way.