he had a laugh
that came from deep in his belly
and a smile
that could light a room
he fell down my cellar stairs
drunk one New Year’s Eve
when I was playing Good Samaritan
not having been with them
but taking him in at the side door
they had nowhere else to go
Kevin said
please Lenny take Jack
and Jack wobbled
fell
no one holding him
blood coming out of his ear
the hospital
a concussion
he could have died
but he lived to work on cars
at Herman’s Garage
blocks away from my parents’ house
many years later
I found out from Herman’s grandson
that Jack was in Florida
a mechanic still
did he marry Concetta
does he still laugh from the belly
would he know what became of Kevin
my connection lost
by a few years
and several cars
I wonder some nights
I see…

Mr. Cool
always had that been there look
in his eyes
the way he could casually slouch
into a room
his hands open
a brown belt in taekwondo
before it became the rage
he had one helluva roundhouse kick
and did hyeongs to impress the girls
in the middle of the street
daring cars to hit him
no one saw him fight
but everyone assumed he would win
the undisputed champ
until he made a play for Judy
Kevin’s girl
and Kevin knocked on his back door
Hanley giving a smug smile as he stepped out
barefoot
that roundhouse kick in reserve
only he never got to throw it
and Kevin left him broken
bleeding in his own backyard
he dropped out of high school a week later
just three months shy of graduation
and joined the navy
submarine service
four years in ports of call
looking for his lost…

Margarita was ripe
before her time
at thirteen she was with the bad boys
causing Timmy Jessen’s downfall
and giving Jimmy Johnson one month of bliss
at fifteen she dated college boys
and though I was long gone
by her eighteenth year
I’m sure she married well
she once confessed to me
she did not want to end up
like her older sister Francine
handed off from the Galtieri brothers
to Tony Esposito
and then down the line
this in a moment of self-reflection
they all often had with me
but I do believe
she made it out
if anyone did
with fewer scars
and even less memories

it was the bop
a bounce on the balls of his feet
the arms swinging
the yo joe
he could stand for hours
concentrating on blowing bubbles
with his tongue
a circus trick
in the Parker Revue
he was what is called a stand-up guy
and I watched him stand up for others
always ready to defend a friend
he had, what Kevin called, heart
and once in some bar
he came flying across the room
pool cue a sword in his hands
to save Mike Velaquez in a brawl
and ended up with a glass in his face
forty-six stitches later
his badge of honor
I remember how he dressed first
tight dress pants
shirt open three buttons
crucifix around his neck
ankle high boots
jade east cologne
his hair combed and sprayed
he had to look his best
for the doctor and nurses
while they stitched his face

he barely reached five foot six
and weighed 120
until he started with the gym
those protein tablets
the banana shakes every morning
muscle sprouting all over
a 44 inch chest
17 inch arms
he could really kick ass
and loved to sit in bars
his baby face nursing a beer
until some big guy started crowding
then he would swing into action
and always seemed to win
he cried once
high on airplane glue and Thunderbird wine
his older brother dead
some freak accident
and all the muscles in the world
all the victories in bars
couldn’t help Kevin live up
to the brother’s ghost
in his father’s eyes

he named us The Jesters
had someone design the sweaters
a coat of arms
the unofficial leader
but more inclined to follow
told stories of his older brother
and cousins the Cicero boys
with sound effects
galloping horses
gunfire
the roar of the crowd
a witness to my first car accident
almost caused my second
when the ashes of his cigarette fell
between his legs
one of the three of us
who actually graduated high school
attended college for a semester
then married
got a job
had kids, I imagine, with Lorene
his sister Maryann
the darling of our crowd
a teller at a local bank
there are some who never get beyond
the working class we’re born in
that was Vic
too good natured to have ambition
still on the same block
making crowd noises
for his kids

Withered vines, old trees, crows at dusk;
A small bridge, flowing water, a few houses;
An ancient road, a lean horse in the west wind.
The evening sun sinking in the west–
A heartbroken traveler still at world’s end.

translated by Sherwin S.S. Fu

Awakening spring: how many leaves!
Rustling dawn: how many branches!
Does she know the pangs of love?
Never a time she wouldn’t dance.

Pussy willows aflutter–hide white butterfly,
Tendrils hanging limp–bare yellow oriole.
All conquering beauty, perfect through and through:
Who would enjoy just the brows of her eyes?

translated by Eugene Eoyang & Irving Y.Lo