AND SADNESS COMES IN HER PIMP’S CADDIE
by Robert Kinerk
and Trudy brought fruit salad that Gordon says is great
and Lisa brought her usual lasagna
and Joe has put the beer on ice in a galvanized-tin tub
and everybody likes how Mary’s done her hair
and the twins are such a handful Ted looks like he’s worn out
and Robert tells the joke about the penguins
and Brenda says Aunt Deidra hoped to make it but her bursitis got too bad
and sadness comes in her pimp’s Caddie which he leaves parked across the street
and Phil and Bootsie squabble the way they always do
and Andy tells how Jeffrey’s done in rehab
and Larry corners Marty to talk about the house
and Shannon want to know who does Ginny’s hair
and Molly brags about her diet on which she’s now lost 13 pounds
and Sara blows out all the candles on the happy birthday cake
and Kevin tells her she forgot to make a wish
and the little Lanquist girl falls off of a swing
and Uncle Gene is napping on the brown couch in the den
and sadness checks her make-up in the Caddie’s sunshade mirror
and Mac and Tam arm wrestle on the table by the pool
and Milly spills her Diet Coke which stains the rug
and Zach is telling Judy they think the tumor is benign
and everybody has to look at Stuart’s pictures of his boat
and when the twins get cranky Ted says its time to go
and Georgia divvies up potato salad with anyone who asks
and Chuck can’t find his car keys
and sadness in the Caddie lights a Turkish cigarette
and someone on a Harley comes to pick up Jake’s daughter Dean
and Penny promises to send her recipe for rhubarb pie to Jen
and Katherine, not yet two, is blowing kisses
and Reena runs to find her camera for a picture
and Ben is holding up a cell phone and asking whose it is
and Dora needs directions to the highway
and the microwave is beeping and nobody knows why
and Karl’s found Lucille’s purse but she and Dave have gone
and Sandy turns the pool lights out
and Stevie opens up a can to feed the cat
and Dexter checks the window locks all along the back
and Matty’s in the bathroom putting toothpaste on her brush
and sadness on her six-inch heels comes tripping to the door.
Robert Kinerk is a writer of plays and picture books for children. He is pitching a novel set in a town very much like his hometown, Ketchikan, Alaska. “And Sadness Comes in Her Pimp’s Caddie” is the first of his poems ever accepted for publication.