Yellow Mama E zine
Issue #115
Crockett's Prayer: Poem by Richard Allen Taylor
Art by Bernice Holtzman © 2026
Art by John C. Mannone © 2026
Crockett’s Prayer
by Richard Allen Taylor
-San Antonio de Bexar, March 6, 1836
In the moment, his needs are simple. To still
the quaking of his hands. To not fumble the reload.
To ram home black powder, wadding and lead ball
with authority. He needs the cold flint of his heart
to spark like his .40-caliber long rifle. To make
his aim steady as when shooting squirrels
back home. Damn Jackson. Damn Van Buren,
damn all the politicians who ruined America,
spurred him to leave his home, his country.
Now he fights for Texian independence. He stands
with friends who follow him to glory or folly,
behind the low north wall of the Alamo. Days ago,
they repelled Santa Ana’s troops, easy targets
for expert marksmen. Crockett prays not to shirk
his duty or dishonor his name. He’d rather not
die a hero but reckons all his choices are bad.
To die is not the worst of them.
Santa Ana’s army, numbers in their favor, press
forward, urged on by bugle blare and struck drums.
Richard Allen Taylor is the author of four poetry collections including Letters to Karen Carpenter and Other Poems (2023) from Main Street Rag Publishing Company. His poems, articles and reviews have appeared in Aeolian Harp, Flying South, Litmosphere, Pinesong, Tar River Poetry, Rattle, and Sheila-Na-Gig Online, among others. Several of his poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He formerly served as review editor for The Main Street Rag and founding co-editor of Kakalak. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and currently resides in Greer, South Carolina.
John C. Mannone is a scientist, poet, essayist, fiction writer, and poetry editor who often creates derivative visual art and photo art for speculative poems in Abyss & Apex (as well as for Silver Blade (currently on hiatus) and former ADR Poetry). His photography has appeared in the Chattanooga Writers Guild anthologies. His literary work appears widely in Artemis, Critical Humanities, The New England Journal of Medicine, and others. He’s a retired professor of physics and the Poet Laureate for the City of Oak Ridge (2026-2028).