Are you up There, Bad Jack?
Did He take you, Bad Jack Means,
Baptized though you were
In your sinking days, aged eighty,
Your path greased to heaven?
They say your sins
Killed every fish in the river—
Every sunfish, croppie and stone-toter
Between McRoberts and Hazard.
In your time, Bad Jack,
You rammacked, you cut, you shot;
When you stirred, life was barely tolerable;
You slew six, you slew hope,
You slew scores of tomorrows.
Are you up There, Bad Jack?
If you are, if He took you in,
I think I’ll choose the Other Place.