yea
he told me so many things
and some of them were true
before I started kindergarten
I was about 4
he carried boxes from one place to another
open ’em
then put the shit away
the shit that was in the boxes
little shit
the foreman was a real head case
hassled all the box carriers
it was a factory job
and I’m very sure that he knew better was in store
a day came
I was 20
lived in Cali
Hollywood
then down at Vermont and Wilshire
midtown
I called him
L.A. can be cruel and unfriendly
I was selling fine men’s clothing at G. B. Harb’s
best suits on Wilshire
the store was 1000 yards from the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel where RFK was ambushed
and a block from the Brown Derby
the hotel let me lay out at the pool during my lunches
brown bag baloney
I said I was coming back to Colorado and
needed to ship a few boxes
“what about your car?”
I traded it for a Honda 450
“oh.” he was nonplussed
I’m makin’ my way down the down the L. A. Freeway and a guy signals me to slow up a bit
I had one of the boxes bungee corded to the bike
the man yells out the passenger window of the car “need help?”
I’m figuring this guy must be a genius
the end of this part of the story?
the guy followed me back to the apartment and we loaded the other two boxes into the
1971 Chrysler showboat he was floating around town in
the thing was a true boat
why did he do this
he wanted me to go to the dime dances with him
WTF are dime dances I’m thinkin’
ya go up a long staircase
the sound gets increasingly audible as you get to the top
chicks
chicks that will dance for a dime
no joke
I can say he loved it
and had been there many times
but going alone to a white only cheap dance hall was
a sketchy proposition for a Black man alone
in fact
now that I think of it
it truly was a white only deal
it was still just 1977
the “N” word was floating around liberally
the edge of the building nudged itself just feet into East L.A.
that’s a place no one should go after dark
if you think Crenshaw has a bad rep
but one step back and into the downtown area by
daylight
there’s a kind of last chance fish taco stand and
it beats any taco I’ve had so far while in Latin America
believe me. It’s Cheech and Chong territory just that step further
now for the dancehall hook
the lady dancers encouraged a sit at a table for 5 dollar drinks
I was only making 7 an hour and drinking was not something I did
to talk to a gal you had to pay for at least one drink & that dime
the girls — they played Monte Hall’s “Let’s Make a Deal”
and off to the back room ya went for a ho hum
I passed
and waited for Anthony who was
much relieved and done dancing. we
left
all my shit was off to dad’s place and L.A was history
oh, I been back but not for the dancing
L. A. is for making money or finding fugitives
Hollywood? ah, that’s for another poem
the whole Honda saga –
that’s for two poems
believe it or not, I made it back to Colorado on it
shook for days
I did
not the bike
daddy said to call him before leaving
– y’all set?
I am dad
– I got a job for you
shit
now he’ll have me painting the house again
– you’ll make more money than you ever thought – says he
alright
I’m game
within five years I missed standing before the District hoosegow panel by inches
some things really do sound too good
like the trout caught by an expert fly fisherman,
try not to bite the hook.
it just might take ya for a dance there, swinger
– gishi bian
10 July 2018
5:27 am mst usa
and stay away from that city of lights
Send In The Clowns sung by Sweet Judy Blue Eyes
Hey, Doris!
– Be right there, Harry. Gotta to roll you into the bedroom anyway.
It ain’t that late, is it?
– It truly is.
Aw, I sure love you, Doris.
– I never tire of you saying so, Honey.
I took that bike to the top of the Hollywood Hills
damn thing fell over on me
getting the breaks to work was a trick
y’all remember
Jesus loves you like a flower
like the painted desert at sunrise driving west
like the smile on a redbird’s face
like the sound of a whippoorwill at noon by the pond
like your momma did when you were 2
I think, no! I did. I saw him on the Disco floor grooving on the Bee Gees
that’s the thing about Jesus
He meets us where we are
exactly where we are
just say hello, Joe
just say hello
fin
Yellow Rose Publications
