Rick Smith
Mural of a lake*
The facts aren’t straight,
never have been.
We can see linoleum,
a gum wrapper;
the 2 way AC outlet
gazes back with its screwy eyes
from a nest in the long grass
by the water’s edge.
A birch reaches past the paper seams
leaning crazily around
a corner before
drifting off
into ordinary sky.
And then
there’s the house.
We rarely speak of the house.
The people in there
keep mostly to themselves
rooted in the knowledge
that nothing is about
to happen.
*From a photograph by Diane Arbus entitled, A Lobby in a Building, N.Y.C., 1966.
Rick Smith is a clinical Psychologist specializing in brain damage and domestic violence; he practices in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Smith plays harmonica for The Mescal Sheiks and for Music Formula. He can be heard on the sound track of the Oscar-nominated Days of Heaven. He’s published widely; recent books include Whispering In A Mad Dog’s Ear, The Wren Notebook, and Hard Landing, all from Lummox Press. His essay, "Snowed In With Carl Sandburg", is in the current Under The Sun. docricksmith.com