Poem Number 336

Barbecues, Swimming Pools, and little Nostalgia

a face from the past
serves reminders like hors d’oeuvres
whetting my appetite for nostalgia
and twenty seven years liquefy in an instant
as decades of photos paint the table
dealt like playing cards
from the hands of a shark
fast-talking oratory
brief narrative in machine-gun bursts
his plumbing trucks
more plumbing trucks
his first wife
his second wife
his girlfriends
his children
all six of them
at home
at the river
visiting him in prison
four from his second marriage
one from a lucky night in Vegas
one from somewhere else
his really fat sister
his very paralyzed brother
more girlfriends
lots more
pictures of septic tanks
snapshots of invading oleander roots
dragged like bodies from clogged sewer pipes
photo I.D. from prison complete with height reference markers
pictures from someone’s wedding
and the stories
MP in the Army
accidentally discharging his hand gun in the Pentagon
right outside the door to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
his reprimands
his demotions
his plumber’s jokes about corn and proper mastication
his religion..

Fucking guy is just like I remembered him.

Made me laugh.

My wife says she’ll leave if I ever invite him over
to our place.

So much for nostalgia.

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lol