Matthew Haughton

THAT 'OLD CRAFTSMAN'

Our first guitar came to us as a hand-me-down.
The strings were dead, and we found
a copper penny rattling in the belly.
The whole thing stunk from oil and earth,
as if pulled from the ground
after having gone too sour for eating.
We took turns strumming, our ears pressed
to the cheap wood --
that odd resonance groaned from its gut,
like dipping an ear over an unmarked grave.

Matthew Haughton is the author of the chapbook, "Bee-coursing Box" (Accents Publishing). His poetry has appeared in many journals including Appalachian Journal, Now & Then, Still, and The Meadowland Review. Haughton lives in Lexington, Kentucky.