Poetry: Drawing Lessons by Tony Brewer

Drawing Lessons

Draw mommy & daddy first

so I know where they stand

 

He a box with arms – hers a triangle

floating above green & white grass

 

Other parents arrive 

their arms & mouths open

 

The school is another box

window broken where the teacher tried

more boxes more boxes

most are windows full of more boxes

some coffin shapes many sizes

 

The sirens blue & red

comics showed me how they move

Above it all sun shooting rays

over & over round after round

 

Last year my picture won a contest

this year it made national news

Now that I’m older I used to 

have an art teacher

who said I improve every year

every month week day

I still turn the bullets into bees

bumbling up against 

the scared red flowers

 

 

 

 

 

Tony Brewer is a poet and audio artist from Bloomington, Indiana. He is executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Festival and co-producer of the Writers Guild Spoken Word Series and the Urban Deer experimental music series. He has published 13 books and chapbooks including Good Job, Lightning (Stubborn Mule Press, 2024) and Water Witch (Pure Sleeze Press, 2025). Tony has been offering Poetry On Demand at coffeehouses, museums, cemeteries, churches, bars, and art and music festivals for over a decade, and he is a frequent collaborator with experimental music & field recording ensemble ORTET.