Damien Echols

FIRST LOVE

In those days you were something
felt but not seen
as you handed me love letters
written in dead languages.

The chain link fence behind me
made cold diamonds on my back
and your head was on my shoulder
with only one breath between us.

Your hair against my face
smelled like woodsmoke and chocolate,
your lust was raw and new,
as jagged and dangerous as rocks beneath the waves.

Now I’m trapped here like a ghost
haunting places that no longer exist,
feeding on frost and hummingbirds
during long November nights.

__________

UNCLE CHARLIE

My best friend’s uncle
used to tell us stories
about life in Vietnam.
He smoked hand-rolled cigarettes
that turned his fingers yellow
and sipped whiskey straight from the bottle
as he explained how they’d used chocolate bars
to lure the children to landmines.
He chuckled while describing
the way the “gooks” exploded,
but told us we were too young
to hear about the whorehouses
he’d visit on his days off.

–from Rattle #28, Winter 2007

§ 5 Responses to Two Poems by Damien Echols

• The West Memphis Three » Timothy Green says:

  August 25, 2008 at 2:49 pm

  [...] at Rattle.com we feature a pair of short poems by Damien Echols, who’s bio places him on death row in Arkansas for a crime he didn’t commit. As they [...]

  Reply
• Anoth R. Poet says:

  August 25, 2008 at 8:47 pm

  Thanks for making us aware of the situation, and sharing these poems. “The chain link fence behind me/made cold diamonds on my back” is a wonderful image.

  I am reminded also of the recent case of Hiu Lui Ng, who died in the custody of US Immigration and Customs enforcement, of untreated cancer.

  http://www.nytimes.com
  /2008/08/13/nyregion/13detain.html

  ***

  I have a copy of Etheridge Knight’s “Poems from Prison.” “Broadside Press, $1.00″ it says on the cover. Then on the inside back cover it says you can get single poems for 50 cents each. From 1968.

  “Thank God for DNA analysis,” I say, for exonerating the innocent on death row.

  Reply
• Trish says:

  September 9, 2008 at 2:25 am

  Wow. First Love is such a sweet and sad visual poem.

  Uncle Charlie reminds me of how most parents today think. Keep them sheltered from that sex scene on t.v., but it’s okay to watch violent images. Weird.

  All I can say is I hope to God there is some kind of justice in this world and Echols gets his fair day in court soon. Loads of people are hoping he gets a fair trial. Me included.

  Reply
• Alea says:

  November 13, 2010 at 8:29 am

  Damien Echols Back at Rattle. I told ya Tim, he has loads of great poems in his head. Just got to get him to stop thinking to much about them. Just let them flow!!!
  Alea Giles

  Reply
• Megan says:

  February 7, 2011 at 11:18 am

  <3

  Reply