3403. TWO GUYS

TWO GUYS

Two guys like a Jack Kerouac and his

buddy Dean are huddled under the hood 

of their car  -  yes, it's a Hudson from a 

long time ago, a Hornet or a Wasp (they

made them both in the  early 1950's), 

and what a stupid joke was that. These

two are changing a generator; the one

guy has a simple black belt in his hand,

the small and simple kind, like they used to

make, not the serpentine fan belts of today.

They've also, I see, dropped the oil-pan

and will be replacing the gasket. Yes, yes,

I realize in my travels, there are some men 

who do nothing but talk like ladies, on and 

on  -  I see them everyday  -  while others,

with their hands, will work things to the bone.

-

Out along Fifth Avenue, by the church at

Twelfth Street, in 1967 there was a Hudson

Hornet I remember  -  big and heavy and black  -

that sat at the curb, abandoned it seemed, for

nearly an entire year, right through the four

changing seasons  -  snow and grime and leafs

and slime  -  just waiting for something at

the Church of the Transfiguration.