Howard Persky

was a soldier,
which made a difference in my soft mind.
He wore a khaki jacket with his military patches
before the Vietnam War even really got started.
Came from a family of
drinkers and cynics,
worldfulness, exactly what I feared
and needed in 1961.

Pretended to be
an English gentleman.
When he bought gas
he called it motor fuel
and he knew all about beer
and whiskey which we drank
with Mary at the
night-soaked Sligo Golf Course
after an evening
of hopping the bars
on Georgia Avenue.

Mary was my long days journey.
She let me speak
and pretended to want me.
I was almost hearty enough.