Jack Johnson Does the Eagle Rock by Cornelius Eady

 Jack Johnson Does the Eagle Rock

 

Perhaps he left the newspaper stand that morning

dazed, a few pennies lighter.

The illustration of the crippled ocean liner

with the berth he had the money

But not the skin to buy

Engraving itself

On that portion of the mind reserved for

lucky breaks.

Perhaps the newsboy, a figure too small to

bring back,

Actually heard his laugh,

As the S.S. Titanic, sans one prize fighter,

Goes down again all over New York,

Watched his body dance

As his arms lift the ship, now a simple millimeter thick,

above his head

In the bustling air, lift it up

As though it was meant to happen.