Love Poem: James Marshall Goff
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Written by: L'Nass Shango

James Marshall Goff

Jimmy, do you still drive the big truck
Across the ice laden roads
And swear magnificently at lady luck
When she breaks down with your loads
Of good-natured joy and faith
O you are such a child of insatiable desire
This strong defiance that mingles
With forest creatures like soul akin
This friendly poet of passion that spin
Sweet tales of his familiar places
The honor is mine to love such a friend
Roaming woods and yet to me unmet
Where every wilderness for you a garden
Of undiscovered righteousness
I love the barren, bleak landscapes
That figure your rage
Against the fuel of our discontent
Slavemasters and rip-off wage
I love the beauty of your constraint
How you paint that into words
How you chain that with your words
And then to gloat in childish wonder
At falling snowflakes and flying birds.