Peanut Puppets

Kenneth Sherman
From:   Jackson's Point. Oberon Press, 1989

(for Marie)

Tiny halves of peanut shells — corrugated, wrinkled.
With red and black markers
You sketched on one a dog's face, on the rest
The likenesses of our family members,
Your quick strokes cartooning the pocked surface
Into a surprised line of vaudeville expressions.
Shreds of felt for dangling basset ears and human hair.
They wagged from the fleshy tips of your fingers
Their dumb show of affection.
And who could explain the length to which I loved them,
Their sweet meat long gone,
Marveling at what is made out of dried husk and pen.

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Kenneth Sherman's works copyright © to the author.