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Poem

On either side
Of a crowded family dinner table 
There are signs of ambition and resentment
Success and failure
Marked by those who pass
The plate
And those who only take.

A lighter than air blimp 
Floated 
Lazy circles 
High above a City
Of breadlines desperation
As New York struggled 
Through the Great Depression.

Hank was tough
Self reliant and hungry
Eager to impress
He washed
And waxed
His uncle’s car
Calloused hands
Carefully caressing
The sleek curves 
Of a 1938 V16 Caddy.

Catching his reflection
In the chrome grill work
He ignored
The rough lines
In his face
Focusing instead
On the money 
And power behind 
The car.

Wet sponge
Going up and down
The rich’s man car
Sweat pouring down his neck
Pails of water
Clanging an alarm
Under an August sun
Having never owned a car
Hank
Was dismayed
When the wax
Clouded
Up
In the summer heat.

Well dressed
Republican 
Hands on hips
Uncle was upset
At what he saw
Incompetence
Was wasted time.

The sudsy water
Drained away
Any hopes of 
Hank getting a job 
In his uncle’s firm.

The Depression was a disaster
For some it came sooner
For Uncle it came later
Packing a surprise punch
That was catastrophic
Uncle lost everything.
The house
The fancy parties
And the ‘38 Caddy with dual spare tires mounted on each front
Gone for pennies on the dollar.


Ever resourceful
Hank got a job as a clerk
In the US Patent Office
One day
He realized
Beef and potatoes 
On a modest clerk’s salary 
Tasted better than Uncle’s lavish dinners
The seeds of disappointment
From that summer’s day
Occasionally came back
To remind him what was meant to be 
Thinking of his red faced Uncle
In a starched shirt
On that hot August afternoon
Hank broke into a wide grin
And ordered another plate of beef stew.

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