Gene McCormick- Three Poems

Nights On The Town

 

A little slow, they say, they say he

is a just little slow in the head,

can’t hold a simple job in retail

because he is uncomfortable asking

people for their money though he quickly

learned how to operate a cash register

so how slow could he be?

 

He likes to re-visit Walmart, sitting in the

leased-out deli area with the small two-top

plastic tables once a brilliant primary color

but now dulled by time, usage and

commercial cleaning solvents.

Popcorn, Icees, sub sandwiches and all flavors

of soda are on offer but he usually has the

$5 meal of the day with a Diet Coke.

Holding the straw about twelve inches above

the plastic lid on the soda he stabs it  down

hard, aiming for the lid’s perforated circle

(about a third the circumference of a dime),

plunging the straw into the drink. Cool when he

is accurate, messy un-cool when his aim is off,

Coke splashing onto the dull blue table top.

All the while he is talking Walmart talk with

the girl behind the counter: weather, TV, stuff.

(“This place needs a jukebox. Did you hear

one of the Everly Brothers died?

Don’t know which one.”)

 

Sometimes he has a deli dinner on Saturdays

to watch young families come in for their

weekend entertainment, young parents letting

their kids go crazy in the toy department, running

up and down aisles—a family night out without

the cost of a movie or a babysitter.

 

Later, walking across the parking lot, he heads

downtown, about a half hour walk, and there

are always girls in tight jeans or slacks

to follow to make the journey seem quicker.

 

 

 

The Wait

 

It’s been twelve years since we worked together

and she never, ever was on time so why will

today be different?  In ten minutes we’ll see.

 

Maybe a marriage and two kids have changed her.

 

It’s March 10 and 54° and sunny, the warmest

day of the year so far.

Have a leather jacket on, keeping me warm enough

to wait outside if I choose but, no, I’ll wait

in the restaurant foyer, in a sun patch that causes

my decades-old jacket to smell leathery.

 

I’m early, as I usually always am.

 

I hired her straight from college with juvenile

work samples and in a few months hired her

sister, too, nearly as young and already married.

 

It’s 11:59. In another minute she’ll be late.

 

                           ----

 

It was okay. Cheeseburger and fries always helps.

All in all, though, I wish

she hadn’t shown up.

 

 

 

Job Interview

 

Waiting in the reception area, sitting with

legs crossed, he runs his index finger,

the underside with the fingerprint,

down a crisply-pressed seam

of business-black dress slacks,

doing it several times, ignoring

the Sports Illustrated open on his lap.

He’s early, more anxious than nervous.

He wishes all this could be done online.

He wishes even more that he didn’t

have to wear a dress shirt and tie

for the next forty years.

 

 

 

Brief Bio: Gene McCormick can currently be seen as a contestant on “Dancing With The Stars.” He  had originally planned to be on “American Idol” until he realized that it was just a singing contest.