Editor's note: Robert Belfour was born Sept. 11, 1940. He died in 2015.
Hill Country Blues
Hill Country Blues
by
Norbert Krapf
for
Robert Belfour
Robert,
Robert, they say you are gone.
They
say your spirit is gone, way gone,
but
your music plays on and yes on.
I
grew up in southern Indiana hills.
I
never hear your song without a thrill.
On
the sidewalk outside Cat Head Delta Blues
I
stood peering at your face and your shiny shoes
as
you sat playing the hypnotic Hill Country Blues.
Brother,
brother, how you laid down that groove.
You
laid down that ancient mesmerizing groove
that
was anything but slick, light, and smooth.
Somehow
I hear a horse clomp, clomp, clomp.
I
see and hear an old horse clomp, clomp, clomp
when
you play your eternal Hill Country Stomp.
About
the poet: Former
Indiana Poet Laureate Norbert Krapf's most recent poetry collection
is Catholic
Boy Blues,
which was followed by the related prose memoir Shrinking
the Monster,
winner of an Illumination Book Award and finalist for an INDIES
Award. Forthcoming is a collection of poems about his grandson
(almost three), Cheerios
in Tuscany.
Norbert co-facilitates a workshop with Liza Hyatt, Bless This Mess:
Writing About Difficult Relationships. For more, see
www.krapfpoetry.com.