Wednesday, June 12, 2013

POEM - Date Shakes, Dinosaurs and One-Upping

I was a terrible paper boy
My heart wasn’t in it
Every afternoon I was on my bike
Wrestling with the baskets
Trying to deliver to all the right people
Always got my start and stop days wrong

I was amazed that Berg did it for so long
He never seemed to have a problem
I had complaints and missed deliveries
And I was also always short on money
I was shy and hated collecting

In the end it was all worth it
The reason is The Bond!
The Paper makes you buy a bond
Like an insurance policy
Really like stealing half your check
But I was twelve and didn’t know better
What happens when you quit
Is you get most of that money back

What that meant was I was rich
So I thought over my options
Innocently decided to be generous
Ended up being something great
I could hold over my sister
For the next couple of years

I bought two plane tickets
To fly to California to visit grandparents
The second ticket was for Cassie
I still don’t think she’s lived it down
The only thing I could have done more
Based on the leverage it bought me
Would be some sort of organ donation

We flew to Ontario and walked off the plane
To Grandpa and Grandma waiting with smiles
I got to do everything I enjoyed
Playing down at the Catholic school
Waving to Mr. Water
Candy at the liquor store
Cruising the mall unsupervised
I bought a Pinkwater book
A couple pounds of white chocolate
Explored the basement and the office
And all the other nooks and crannies
Where innumerable years of cool stuff
Was crammed and stored at grandma’s house
Waiting for someone like me to discover

At the end we drove home with Grandma Roxie
In the cool short frame Dodge van
Stopped at Hadley Orchards
For date shakes and dinner
Walked out with bags of dates
Heading back toward Phoenix
We watched the sun start to set
Over the Cabazon dinosaurs
Giant concrete sentinels
Watching the endless flow of travelers
I was always sure they would stop one day
Get bored of the desert

And just walk away




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