A City –
Where the Monster Rules
She was a big girl, so – you
wouldn’t take another look,
back then, when guys
were always ready.
Right smack on the corner,
she would stand; her fat
bust’ in out of her top, think’in
she’s sexy, not knowing
boys put her name on a list –
one of the homely ones to
pray over.
When she stood at the
corner - never needed
a stop sign since boys in
souped-up cars stopped,
and stared at the fat girl.
She’d give - the finger.
The fat girl; now skin and
bones - some health care
provider, but I bet she steals
pills; kind of like when she
stuffed girdles, and bras into
a bag. I was left holding,
after she bought me a big
hot fudge sundae.
That was the last time
I went shopping with a fat
girl - Mama told me she
was too big for me -
knowing Mama was
referring to her age.
It isn’t the same, our
neighborhood. The
monster stopped growing.
Papa hates to see a city die.
He talks about all the people,
and all the traffic.
One after another – car after
car: cars with crank out
windows, running boards,
white walls, all stalling out
in one long line - waiting
for the whistle from the
monster - signaling another
work day.
The whistle at the plant,
feeds all the mouths, helps
plant gardens and educate
children - pay the mortgage.
The monster, owns people,
where I was born - the
monster paid for the holster
and Dale Evans pistol for my
brother… filled the cookie jar,
and gave us enough money
for a parakeet.
The men who sat in the
board room, on the second
floor, right past a ladies room
and under a chandelier,
in front of a wood burning
fireplace, near a solid oak coat
tree – those men ruled the city;
or, did the city rule them?
When the whistle sounded
at the end of a work day, a
city like robots, or future -
computerization – it moved
together – stop lights longer,
cross walks crowded and
people marching down Erie
Boulevard like ants - in perfect
lines.
No one in the city worried,
it was built, and cared for by
giants - and the giant lights
the world – built home town
monsters.
Papa and all the Papas in the
city - dipped themselves into
chemical baths - buried in nuclear
waste - empty corn fields
never really empty - never
just grass, or tumble weeds
nestled adjacent to the railroad,
and across from another giant
on the other side of town.
No one thought about disease
or the environment - all they
cared about was if the monster
survived – and then they would.
So growing up the boys all
thought the fat girl was the
monster - their Papas soon
told them who the monster
really was – parts of the
monster has survived.
Nancy Duci Denofio
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