accused
of so much
unintended
when all
I was offering
was friendship
other writing
Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: addendum: The Glasses
The Glasses
are gone
you discover that in the morning
on your way to the subway
when the street looks blurry
and you remember a sign
First Avenue
and think
they’re somewhere on First Avenue
and feel slightly sicker than you felt in the shower
when you realized that not only were you still drunk
you had to be at work in 45 minutes
there is no sympathy from the girls
they giggle and shake their heads
and when you ask for something with dough to eat
Julie brings back MacDonald’s animal crackers
and then proceeds to eat half of them
Zaida looks pained
but eats a few too
and Luz could give a damn
you’re left with 4 cookies
that lousy coffee
and Stacey who comes in at 2 to gloat
you wonder if this is what poetic justice is
especially after that tirade in the bar
about the youth of today
you know your ex-wife would say
see why I married someone boring
and you think yeah
yeah I see
though not so well
without the glasses
and thank whoever’s listening there’re no trade-ins
and beg your favorite ladies
to please not take advantage of an aging fool
you also swear to give up drinking
but know your oaths lately are not to be trusted
and somehow someway
the day ends
you drag ass to the subway
and go home to bed
to sleep like the baby
you never were
a lock of hair: for Frank
sometimes
at night
when he couldn’t sleep
he would wrap her lock of hair
around his finger
and brush it against his lips
sometimes
during the day
he would do that
too
Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: addendum: watching shoes
Watching Shoes
he’s become obsessed watching shoes
every pair in/every pair out
he is trying to remember who wore what
the equation what walks in
minus what walks out
equal sales
fills his head
now if only he could remember what walked in
he’d be in business
only his memory
like his hair
is thinning
an example of the adage
age isn’t necessarily better
just older
morning sun
ah sunshine
my arms embrace
your warmth
fill me sunshine
I open
to the sun
suddenly once again
suddenly
there you were
once again
like the last time
and what I said
I didn’t say
and what I did
I didn’t do
and then you felt
what once you felt
and things were as
they might have been
if suddenly
I had
one more chance
once again
morning prayer
morning prayer
in darkness still
oh hope
of a better day
when the sun
finally comes
to light this world
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Playing The Holes
Playing The Holes
it’s the old pea and shell game
or a variation of the saying
a hole on the rack
means a shoe under a coat
what you can’t see could be missing
the main thing here is to account for every hole
much like life
too much like life
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Morning Raid
Morning Raid
they fan out through the store
as if on a search and destroy mission
these warriors of the retail war
feign and attack
knock off a pair of sneakers here
a pair of ladies heels there
or if the defenses are too good
a can of saddle soap and a pair of socks
something to take back behind their lines
a victory is after all a victory
and this is beyond hostility
now it’s down to economics
and that’s where they hurt you the most
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Vaudeville
Vaudeville
you say watch the floor
and they both look down and ask
why, is it moving
or they hold out a balloon for a kid
and when he reaches for it
they let it go to sputter through the air
and laugh as the kid’s smile melts away
or when Steve asks them to unload everything from his car trunk
they pack his spare and jack in shoe cases
and watch as he unpacks them in the store
they howl at each other’s antics
and you watch thinking
this is the Little Rascals grown-up
or perhaps the Little Rascals taller
would be better
and when Jack’s brother joins them
one does think of the Three Stooges
they will climb in a box and kick each other around
or move the safe on an unsuspecting manager
or clip off the tips of the paper cups by the water cooler
or tell as many bad jokes as you’ll stand for
before you walk away
then follow you to tell a few more
Zaida watches Ish’s attempt at Costello
and shakes her head thinking
such a waste
Ish continues though
with Jack as straight man
even sticking his face in an ice cream cake
for something resembling an effect
and even Gerry can feel superior to that
how can someone respect themself
Luz asks
and do that
you don’t know
Zaida doesn’t know
Stacey stopped asking the question
Julie just wants to know where the ham in her sandwich went
and Ish toys with a water gun
thinking dark thoughts concerning Jack
life is one secondhand routine after another
and maybe if one does enough
another movie will come on the screen
a second feature
so to speak
and what will his role be in that
one wonders
if there will be a role for him
at all
Leonard Durso 