Jake's Flea Market

there came   a messenger once

in august it was
early september   late in the afternoon

his horse
sweat lathered and panting   he rode
through the archway to the front
doors   the heavy oak   doors to our priviledge

he brought instruction for besserer

charles’ armies had occupied
stuttgart   it was pillaged and burned

ulm was taxed into destitution and submission

when others of his classmates 
here had returned to their families   while most
had left the university   had left wittenberg to find
ripe crops in the fields   to hire themselves out 

besserer was instructed to remain
he was instructed to eat

idled into reading
he read himself into boredom

he was bored into a search
a finding of things to clean
things to repair   things to paint

all through that season he laboured at 
waiting for instruction to arrive
that he should return home to bernstadt