Bentz’s birthday party

On Bentz’s 66th birthday

we stood under umbrellas in the rain

black plastic covered music speakers

Red Shack Pickers played on a covered stage

On Bentz’s 66th birthday

no one danced barefoot in the mud

but a frog leaped about in wet grass

and disappeared under the stage

On Bentz’s 66th birthday

some gave up and went inside

some stood under the awning at the door

and some got wet standing in the rain

On Bentz’s 66th birthday

we listened to Americana music

learned about southern hippies and wagon wheels

while looking for new worlds in the valley of the sun

10-27-19