some hillbilly machiavelli
TRANSCRIPT
University of Northern Iowa
Some Hillbilly MachiavelliAuthor(s): Paul HunterSource: The North American Review, Vol. 264, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), p. 25Published by: University of Northern IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25125665 .
Accessed: 12/06/2014 15:05
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
University of Northern Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The NorthAmerican Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 194.29.185.216 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:05:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
PAUL HUNTER
SOME HILLBILLY MACHIAVELLI
I have a brother a tad bit younger an alter ego you might say
a brother who drives a Harley and lashes out at injustice
snipes at indifference
and can say
adios motherfucker
to someone like you
who pretend to be my friend
but refuse all invitations
you who grin and go on about your business
as if friendship were an alley
gradually built up to the point it might as well be a chimney for all it saw the light of day
This brother this
alter ego would
set you straight
in his blunt way: he would say lets us take a walk down
this little deadend
and have us a looksee
Arm in arm
you would begin to agree with him
he would josh and threaten
you with nose jobs
reciting a thinly veiled story
through his full set of teeth
of someone who forgot to pay
a debt of honor
and suddenly found himself
down in some cabbage patch
rolling in the money
There would be no missing the point there would be no way around him
knee deep in ashes
you might look up the long black flue
and smell the smoke of old fires
and start to think you saw stars
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW/Spring 1979 25
This content downloaded from 194.29.185.216 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:05:22 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions