Bryan Hendrix

BACK  |  CONTENTS  |  NEXT

Behavior Modification

Felton Sneed had just turned seventeen
When he went ballhootin’
Ass over teakettle
Into the ravine
He never was the same, his mama said
It’s like some other boy crawled up
And left ol’ Felton down there dead
But that was fine
‘Cause Felton had been hell to keep in line
And now he had a goofy grin
And never acted mean
So Felton’s mama
Pushed his daddy
Into that ravine

Bryan Hendrix is an artist and writer from Columbus, Georgia currently living in Blue Ridge, Georgia. He was the recipient of the Georgia Poetry Society’s Byron Herbert Reece International Award and was published in The Reach of Song. He has illustrated three children’s books and his art has appeared in various other books and national publications. During a discussion of the word ‘ballhooting,’ an old lumberjack term for sending logs down a hill, Bryan’s wife, Lisa, said, “So you could go ballhootin’, ass over teakettle, into the ravine?” and that inspired the poem.