Winter 2016 — THE POTOMAC



Two Poems

Frank J Dunbar

Midnight on Hamburg Street

(the '80s)

the last bus of the 18 A Jefferson route
whizzing by outside in the fog
at the last moment hitting the brakes
at the stop sign at the corner
shaking loose another clapboard
felling another down spout

here and there a porch light on
for the one working late
the one out carousing

me on my knees in front of the television set
receiving a blessing from Jimmy Swaggart
quart of beer on the coffee table
Playboy and Hustler magazine mixed in with Time & Newsweek
thirty–eight special under the cushion of the couch
wishing he'd hurry up so I can change the channel
catch Bo Derek on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

why always this feeling of hopelessness
in the light of redemption
the way Swaggart's words seem to go right over my head
the way they must've to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis
whom Swaggart evokes with a tear and quiver of his lip
making his pitch for money to help shine the way
for other lost souls and strayed sheep

a phone number flashes over scenes of Beirut in flames
the choir hums in the background
as the camera fades to commercials for feminine napkins
non–stick frying pans and Art–carved graduation rings...


Memorial Day 2012

Veterans Hospital Buffalo, New York

We whipped them at Fallujah
said the kid with the eye patch
and whipped them good
replied the kid next to him

man, that day I was dying for a cold beer
what I would have given for a cold beer he said

he was skinny and restless
kept standing up, stretching, looking all around
if I would have died that day
I would 'ave went to hell
but since then I been saved he says

I walked here said the kid in the eye patch
I've grown to like the distances
the longer the better
then he lowered his head and burst into tears
what I'd give to be back there whippin' them
he kept saying
I'm right there with you buddy said the skinny one
whippin' them and lusting after a cold beer
'course I don't drink no more since I been saved

then they got up and wandered over to a table full
of old and forgotten WW2, Korean, and Vietnam veterans
who were eating cake & ice cream and looking out in silence
over the empty parking lot where a crow and a seagull
were going at it over a discarded hot dog...

  
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