ANGELS
DID U KNOW THAT ANGELS CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE LIVING + THE DEAD?
In 1965 up north on Purdon Drive an angel approached
my mother + I White pillowcase for a dress Red hair +
flaming lip Mother asleep on the couch after Passover
dinner for 12 This ain’t no old man Elijah Terror filling
heart +creeping into little girl psyche
Up to that point apparitions had been: flying hogs +fathers
with straight+narrow jobs My own a trainer of racehorses
who engaged in pilgrimages to the tracks of North America:
Fort Erie Montreal New Orleans Kentucky Boy would he
have dug this angel !
Our home more carnival than Cleaver Thankfully Because
the trouble with normal is it always gets worse (grrrroan)
It’s also boring Carny life was ever intense Hence this
vixen on the balcony from which a lousy squirrel would jump
to his death: Dad where’s the squirrel? At the Riverdale Zoo
Oh
As it turns out our vixenangel couldn’t save us from what
was coming But then you don’t believe in saviours do you?
Comethefuckon! No our vixenangel was full of pity for this
little human family going through our tribulations from the
cradle to the grave
But in-between the good byes +hospital stays the 67 plus
stitches from stem to stern the sky would open periodically
And shine a light so bright we glowed with mercy Rebuilt +
Rose Again +again Even refusing the ladder proffered for
escape (SUCKERS!!)
Much foolhardy propping each other up Slaves to love +honour
And this precise future sewn into threadbare couches Always there
Waiting Until white leather made an appearance in our prosperous
living room Made us believe we’d been given a reprieve The way
certain long coveted riches do Until they don’t Because if you
believe in reprieves + saviours I have a piece of land in Florida ..
__
My father is a cross between Captain Ahab + Willy Loman.
Family family family , Newark Newark Newark, Jew Jew Jew ..
(Philip Roth RIP 1933 – May 22, 2018)
Summer 2018 ..for Philip Roth + Lee Atkins: Ahab+Willie Loman.. of my dreams
songanddancegirl 