The Trend Set
Summer 1985 flowered forth a slump-
shouldered dude in jacket and slacks of mint green
with peach T-shirt that must have
matched, thus demonstrated Don Johnson
and Philip Michael Thomas as Crockett
and Tubbs—so emulated by this plumber
on a Sunday night at the pony track
fourteen-hundred miles north of Miami
and its vice, with his snaggled, gray-yellow
teeth clamping the swizzle-straw
between explanations of his sartorial choice
to us, who drank—underage—
………….thanks to our friend behind the bar—like adults—
just like the man in his
subtropical fibers
dressing up to play the role
of hip hero in ill-fitting duds
until draining the drinks to their watery dregs.
Unequal Opportunity Employer
Oh, to have the skill of the window-
washer, wrists snaking, swiveling
the squeegee then “snap,” the fluid
crashes to beads in the bucket,
and the plate glass reflects the truth
without any streak or smudge,
a labor of transparency if one
can coordinate instrument and arm
so left to the deft and rhythm-
minded—no need for the graceless,
leaving trails, a squeaking T under
ham-fists, fingers, to apply.
© John Zedolik
John Zedolik has published poems in such journals as Abbey, The Bangalore Review (IND), Commonweal, FreeXpresSion (AUS), Orbis (UK), Paperplates (CAN), Poem, Poetry Salzburg Review (AUT), Transom, and in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Quite recently, he published his second collection, entitled When the Spirit Moves Me (Wipf & Stock), which is spiritually-themed and available through Amazon. His iPhone is his primary poetry notebook, and he hopes his use of it to craft this ancient art remains fruitful.
The Loch Raven Review 