The Window

The Window
---------

"It's for the education
of the kids," said
madam-x ...

at lesat that's how she justified
the paper route.

This was the statement
hung in the mind of
Il Matto, as he picked
tied bundles of the morning
news.

5, 10, 20 thick,
depending on the
events of the day
before ...

off to the truck dock
in Vadnais Heights,
right behind Medical Graphics,
at 4:00am

in the garage by 4:30am
for folding, banding
or bagging
(depending on weather)

on the streets by 5:00
on foot before the cold--
in the car when the ice
and snow
arrived ...

...

--on foot=-

gripping the papers,
one by one,
pulling them out of a
cream-colored canvas bag
Il Matto adjusts
the shoulder strap
where it dugs into
skin and bone

"a route to educate
the kids"--
he hears madam-x
again

with each driveway,
door and sidewalk ...

but il matto
had
to put aside resentment
and exhaustion
to deliver,
porch by porch,
the news curled up
within such inkstained
crispness

the smell of
fress press
sliced through brisk air

fog puffs
powder the darkness
scraped away by streetlamps
and garage-mounted,
motion-triggered,
flood lights--

then there was
_the house_,
the one with the big window
without curtains--
always lit
at 5:00am
with a big man sitting
at a large table counting
stacks of U.S. currency ...

big shoulders
bulged from dark underwear ...

the house:
devoid of furniture,
except for the table,
the chair,
and the counting man

--when Il Matto
trips on the curb,
a pack of doberman pinschers
races out of
chilled shadows

--barking--
--no, growling--
--gnashing their enamel

petulance--

the counting man
stands up
with a heavy dash,
brushing aside the stacks
of cash,

rushes to the big window
and glared out
with an aggressive sneer ...

il matto
grabs another rolled
bundle and threws it over
the canine
platoon

before
slipping into the next shadow
flooding space between
houses,

ready
to fling the bag
laden with headlines

--if need be--

the daily ritual
to welcome another

day ...

before
fixing breakfast for kids
work
shuttling kids
to
hockey
dance
and school events

...

knowing the counting man
will be there
with his dogs
at 5:00am

josjr (2010 1113)

... http://josjr.com