An Ax Handle, also called a haft, has five parts: the Eye, the Shoulder, the Belly, the Throat, and the Knob.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch
at the whites-only lunch counter
Inside a F.W. Woolworth
five-and-dime store 
In Jacksonville, Florida, 
an ax handle's throw
from the Atlantic Ocean, 
where white beach patrons 
baked themselves dark 
in the August 27, 1960 sun.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch
Just another Saturday, where shoppers 
shop up and down
Main Street
White people here
Black people there
Everyone knows their lane
No one crosses.

The handle is strongest when split from a stave, which is simply a narrow length of raw wood, rather than cut from a board.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch.

OUTSIDE the Woolworth windows,
Men and boys build their mob
Just like they build their ax handles
STRONG 
from raw wood

Their ax handles swinging
pumping them
Up
and 
Down
like the kid
The one with a bad case of pimples
Who eyed me first
hell, he couldn't have been more than
What 15, 16
pumping the air

I see him
We all see them.

The diameter of the ax handle should feel comfortable in your hand, allowing you complete control of your aim as it moves up, down, and around.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch.

THE white server with pink cat eyeglasses
smacking gum
square pink kerchief 
pinned above her left breast with a nameplate
Her name is Sue
Loudly announcing
Colored people are not served
at the Whites-Only lunch counter.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch.

THE beefy white manager 
With the white shirt
skinny black tie
white socks
black shoes
black pants
Get the hell to the back 
where you belong
His fat fingers jabbing 
at the Colored-only lunch counter

OR maybe
You belong out there
Jabbing at the growing white mob outside.

Now, you use hickory wood; it's tougher than nails, versatile, strong, and durable.

	ALL we wanted was to be served lunch.

TWO HUNDRED white rioters 
armed with baseball bats and ax handles
Threatened
chased
and beat us
That Saturday on an August day
The one with a bad case of pimples 
was the first one 

S M A C K
C R A C K
B O O M
D O O M

Swung that ax handle 
Like it was his favorite baseball bat
Laughing
His pimples are about ready to explode 
on his red-faced head with the blond crew cut
His puckered mouth spilling spit 
down his red neck with words 
that pierced our souls as he 

S M A C K E D 
My back with an ax handle 
often called a haft

C R A C K E D 
My skull with an ax handle 
with five parts
the Eye
the Shoulder
the Belly
the Throat
and the Knob

B O O M E D 
down on my body with an ax handle 
made of an extremely durable Hickory wood

D O O M E D 
me to a wheelchair for life 
with an ax handle 
tougher than nails
versatile
strong
gives and takes the abuse
All the while feeling comfortable in his hands.

   ALL we wanted was to be served lunch.