Michael Estabrook

                                               

Fred K

In the parking lot in the rain waiting
for the Concord District Courthouse to open
at 8:30 so I can fulfill my summons
to serve as trial juror thinking of Fred K
a high school classmate
who back in 1974
murdered a girl in her car
outside the Hostway Motor Inn
then dumped her torn body in a gully
alongside the railroad tracks

He’s been confined to a cage
for 39 years
and I imagine that he’d love to take
that violent act back
begin his life anew
but then again maybe he’s found Jesus
enjoys working in the prison library
lifts weights in the yard
remains secure with 3 squares a day
what can be better than that?

Lots of things

 

Michael Estabrook is a recently retired baby boomer poet freed finally after working 40 years for “The Man” and sometimes “The Woman.” No more useless meetings under florescent lights in stuffy windowless rooms. Now he’s able to devote serious time to making better poems when he’s not, of course, trying to satisfy his wife’s legendary Honey-Do List.