Ex-Men (For Margaret and Kathy Et Al.)

Abstract

Ex-Men (For Margaret and Kathy Et Al.) Frank X Walker (bio) I wish I had my mother’s super strength and her incredible x-ray vision. She could lift anybody’s spirits without bending her knees see straight through the thickest lies. Her kryptonite was my father. Mine probably is too, because I don’t seem to have the power to ask the hard questions I carry around in the back of my throat: Did you know she was still in high school?Was there really a shotgun at the wedding?Did you ever love her or us?Could you have guessed I’d grow up to be you? I wanted my mother’s super powers, but all I got was my father’s quiet agility. . .to disappear. [End Page 104] Frank X Walker Frank X Walker is the editor of Pluck, The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture as well as the originator of the term, Affrilachia, to denote African-American Appalachia. He has served as Director of the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and as a professor at both Eastern Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University. In January of 2010, he will begin teaching in the English Department at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of four poetry books. Copyright © 2009 Berea College