[Critique Group 2] prose poem for February 23 critique session

[Alice Massa]

*‘He Ain’t …’*

**

tribute prose poem by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town in 1917,

found in an issue of IDEALS magazine

the picture of a boy carrying his brother.

The caption read:

“He ain’t heavy:

he’s my brother.”

In the 1938 movie BOYS TOWN,

the famous line became:

“He ain’t heavy, Father:

he’s my brother.”

In 1969, “HE Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”

was recorded by Kelly Gordon and then by the Hollies.

In 1970, the song,

based on the slogan of Boys Town,

became a hit of Neil Diamond.

With tears, I heard Neil Diamond sing

“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”

at two live concerts—

one at Sycamore Showcase in Terre Haute, Indiana,

on the campus of Indiana State University

and another time on the campus of Indiana University (Bloomington).

To become an Army Ranger,

my younger nephew had to be able to carry a fellow soldier

back to safety

as part of a drill.

“He ain’t heavy:

he’s my fellow Ranger.”

How many times he had to live this motto

during eleven months in Iraq

and three months in Afghanistan,

an aunt will never know.

Once when my second guide dog,

my Yellow Lab Heather,

had old bones that were too weary to exit a cab,

one hundred pounds of me

tried to pick up

sixty-two pounds of faithful Leader Dog

to help her out of the cab.

“She wasn’t heavy:

she was my devoted guide.”

On January 29, my youngest great-nephew

who has only one speed—full out—

roller skated straight into a wall

and sustained a spiral fracture.

His leg is in a cast from mid-thigh

To his toes.

I told his daddy—

the Army Ranger—

“Since you are lifting Caden so much,

you will not have to lift weights at the gym.”

My nephew replied that his first-grader and the cast

are not heavy at all.

“He ain’t heavy:

He’s my son.”

Number of words:322

February 16, 2023, Thursday

For critique session of Group 2 on February 23, 2023, Thursday, at 3:00 
p.m., Eastern Time
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