I
Moving from Chickahominy
to central Greenwich location
Night before, fake sleep, eavesdrop
Mom, Dad talk in serious whispers
Mom, “Bank about to take garage
How can we buy a house, still eat?”
Dad, “Not sure, but must get kids
into a melting pot neighborhood.”
My stomach flips, my heart stops
Depression will kick us into gutter
My fear shrinks like a deflating balloon
when we set foot into our new home
continue to eat, sleep in beds, gather around
radio; play, fight, learn with siblings, friends
Besides I have more terrifying demons that
march into my mind when the lights go out
II
Going to hell makes me shudder. Nuns
explode the fear into our minds with
paintings of Dante’s inferno as
price for unconfessed mortal sins
We ask, “What is a mortal sin?”
Nuns reply, “Ones that involves
a grievous matter, sufficient
reflection, full consent of will.”
Huh? That is as clear as the Latin
the priest spouts out at Sunday Mass
To assure no trip to hell’s fire
I declare all my sins as mortal
I include swearing, fighting, disobeying,
lying dishonoring, thinking dirty
Make my every Friday confessional
dump on bored Father Cunningham
For next seven days I fear death
before the next Friday’s dump
III
There is a fear worse than the
Depression or going to hell
My body crippled by polio
No running, not even walking
Rest of my life in a wheelchair
Constantly reminded of this horror
President talks about it on the radio
Movie ushers pass March of Dime cans
Everywhere, all donate spare dimes to
its cure; cannot avoid thinking about it
When I do, my legs are dead weights
knees quake, mind says I’ve got it
Some of my friends say a doctor
discovered a preventive vaccine
I fear the vaccine will be too late
to save me from being a cripple
I carry this fear until the disease
itself is officially declared dead
Joe Masi is the author of a chapbook, "Poetica de Poetica," published by Prolific Press. His poetry appears in Baseball Bard, Evening Street, Poet's Haven, Trajectory, WestWard Quarterly, and others. Joe is 89 years young and teaches both ethics and political history at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Denver.
