I sat in Meng’s weary, waiting
dusk long since descended
nightfall now master of the sky
with wind blown snow
swirling chaos into perfection.
And finally Mabel Muldoon trudged in
with eight children from her belly
aching for the return of daddy
who got caught robbing a liquor store
so he could buy Christmas presents
worthy of Mr. Michael Muldoon.
Now Mabel sold herself
to raise bail, but unable to succeed.
Not because she wasn’t good-looking
but would only lie there
weary, waiting until lust unraveled.
Al Hoppe went with Mabel
but her sadness and his sadness
shut down desire.
“Thirty years of whores, Bernstein, ” he said
staring hard at me with “I’m finished.”
Mabel plopped at my table.
“Empty streets, ” she sighed.
“A night like this, ” I said.
“Cold.”
“Cold.”
And I wiped the wetness from her cheeks.
“Wish I had a million dollars.”
And I wished for words.
Charles Chaim Wax
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-wound-gaping-wide/
