At the Cradle of Texas Liberty

Milton Jordan

February 23, 2023

the caption, elegantly written in script

reminiscent of a 19th-century hand

on paper stressed to appear as parchment

of the period, asked us to believe —

disregarding metallurgists’ reports —

the case displayed a blade Bowie may have used

in valiant defense of the Long Barracks

where, in fact, Bowie lay immobile 

in fevered delirium through the battle,

and the leather pouch displayed below

possibly held shot for a long rifle

used by a certain Tennessean.

Milton Jordan lives with Anne in Georgetown, Texas. He co-edited the first Texas Poetry Assignment anthology, Lone Star Poetry, Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022.