James E. Allman Jr.
James E. Allman, Jr. holds degrees in biology and business, has been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes, and has poetry in, or forthcoming from, 'Black Warrior Review', 'The Literary Review', 'Nimrod
Tradition
A handing down. To us
from Latin trans-, over (or across or beyond), and dare, to give.
Also, to surrender
through traditus, traditio and traditionem. Down, say the Via Appia, or
the Appian
Practice
makes perfect, they say. Habitual
as in tradition or in the
practice of a tradition,
anyway, which is
a handing down. Say
from the Greek word for
practice, praxis, or from
Medieval Latin,
In the Third Grade There Was No Slouching
or rat-tails or poor penmanship. Miss Moss-Ayad wouldn’t stand for it.
A far cry from now in the backyard, cheeks on the ledge
of a seat. Shoulders slumped.
Sinking.
Watching a siskin