John Doe No. 24

Like I was an orphan shoe from the lost and found

Always missing the other

And they gave me a harp last Christmas

And all the nurses took a dance

But lately I've been growing listless

I've been dreaming again of the past

I'm wandering down to the banks of the great Big Muddy

Where the shotgun houses stand

I am seven years old and I feel my dad

Reach out for my hand

While I drew breath no one missed me

So they won't on the day that I cease

Put a sprig of crepe jasmine with me

To remind me of New Orleans

I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945

In Jacksonville, Illinois

- Adam Schneider, schneider@pobox.com