Patric Pepper

Nothing Like It

drinking from a can kerwoosh! it opens onto other worlds mostly told about over and over and over on construction sites in the summer where shade had to be found having taken the entire crew’s lunch order driven to Little Tavern somewhere in Laurel in Maryland “get me two death balls with mustard and onions and two Pepsi’s” “ditto here with a bag of chips” “ditto—yeah . . . what’s that mean?” “I’ll have what he’s having . . . with chips” then the cool down arrives turn off the radio so we all can shoot the breeze often leading to snake stories

like the time Chuck murdered a black snake wrapped it around the brake and clutch peddles at the end of the day told Bobby to drive home told how Bobby dove out of the truck when he saw the snake wrapped among the pedals only the truck was rolling and Chuck the boss had to dive for the steering wheel and pull the shifter out of gear so down the road we went laughing surely toward the end of our world kerwoosh! went the beer’s at the end of our days “You ain’t nothing but a hillbilly anyways!” opened onto other worlds mostly told over and over and over

Adolescent Loves

It was just an atmosphere, nothing to get upset about. Your pals
would taunt you into it—Bet you can’t. What are you—a wimp?
You’d snarl like a dog, you’d brawl in the grass trying to be a man.
You’d get in your punch, maybe two. You’d hate your pals awhile.

One night on the way home, Mickey stole a beer from Ricky’s garage.
He broke the neck off the bottle opening it on a fence. Mickey drank,
careful not to cut his lips, offered you a gulp. No thanks, Mickey.
He chugged the rest, sailed the bottle in your direction, but missed.

You had cigarettes to keep you all together in that difficult marriage,
packs of Pall Malls and Lucky Strike filters and “Salems for Sissies,”
and you always shared—whatever—and all the gang shared freely,
like cartoon cutthroats on a ragged pirate ship, such a crazy dear love.

You were used to Mickey, his tender ferocities. Shut up, Mickey.
It was you and your pals and the Milky Way peppering the dark,
you and your buddies stumbling up a dirt road, all but arm in arm,
raising each other on toxic love amid everyday hells, and heavens.