The Losr Maji Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

In a small town in the Midwest
Where everyone knew everyone’s business,
Before morning light
The story got around.
Jesse Schmidt had been in a fight
At the local bar and
Tom Paine was taken to the regional hospital
With a fractured skull.

Seems his parents
Were the last to know
And when Jesse’s dad
At the hardware store
Heard it from one of the customers,
He at first denied that it happened
Then it sunk in that,
Jesse was in a whole lot of trouble.

He rang up Wilma and told her the news
And asked if Jesse was upstairs in bed.
“If he is, get him up
I want to talk to him.”

A beery youth of eighteen
Came on the phone
Stood and took the dressing down
That his Pa gave him.

“You better git out of town
Before sheriff Todd comes and locks you up.
Git some money from your Ma and git.
I don’t want to ever see you again.”

Silence, and Jesse hung up the phone.
He was surprised that his mother
Already had got the suitcase down from the attic
And was putting his fresh washed clothes
In a heap on the kitchen table.
She didn’t say a word,
Just took two twenties from her purse
Laid them on top the clothes.
She turned her back on him
Went back to doing the dishes..

“Ma, I’m sorry”
He began to say and
Saw that the issue was closed.
He was to get out of the house and fast.
“Your brother will drive you over
To the bus station in Athens.
Get going.”

That was early July
No one heard from Jesse
Or what had become of him.

Then two weeks before Thanksgiving,
The Greyhound pulled into the bus station
Jesse in his navy uniform
Carrying a duffle
Crawled off the bus.

He trudged up the hill
To the white frame house
Looking at those familiar places
He knew so well.

There was the Howard’s,
The cousin McKays,
And on and on
Until he reached the picket fence.

He looked across to the small two story
That was the home of his best friend,
And Betsy, his wife and two kids.
The smallest had never been seen by Pete
Who was away somewhere in England in the army.

Jesse didn’t know what to expect
But he banged on the front door and entered.
His mom as usual,
Busy with housework
Looked up and saw her first-born.

They stood and stared at one another.
She said, “Git.
If your Pap sees you,
He’ll kill you.”

“But Ma.”

‘Pap had to pay all the hospital bills for Tom,
Tom still isn’t right.
Git” and with that she wiped her hands
On her apron and went back to the kitchen.

Jesse thought,
Maybe I can still catch the bus out of town.
He grabbed his duffle
And ran back down the street to the station.

He was in luck,
They were changing drivers
So he was able to climb on board.
At this time,
He had no idea where the bus was going,
But it was away, far away.

As happens in this area of the world,
It snows and then it snows some more.
The streets were passable, but just so.
Christmas was going to be a white one
With the snow piled high
On the fields and where it slid of the roof tops
It added to the drifts
Up to the windowsills
On the off-wind side of the houses.

With the war,
Here was rationing and yet
Everyone had something
Extra for Christmas.

The kids never seemed to have enough,
And the old folks sat by the radio
Listening to the news from the front.
The big news was the battle with Japan,
And the news wasn’t good.

Many prayed that the war
Would soon be over,
But no one knew how much longer it would be
Now with Roosevelt dead
And Harry Truman in charge,
Everyone worried.

Wednesday came
With the kids out of school
And by four
It started to get dark.
Portending yet another snow fall,
Maybe even a blizzard.
Lights flickered on up and down the street
Smoke curled from the chimneys
As the people settled into their routine
And got ready for bed.

Then along about nine,
The church bell started to ring. Fire!

Everyone rushed to the door
And windows to see where.
And there across from the Schmidts,
The small house where Betsy and the two young-uns lived,
Flames were leaping from the rooftop.
You could see the fire through the windows
As it devoured everything in sight.

The village pumper truck
Lumbered up the hill,
As the neighbors rushed to the house
To help however they could.

You could feel the heat
From the fire
On you face
And had to divert you eyes.

Betsy stood there in her slippers crying,
“My babies, my babies, upstairs.”

Two strong men rushed to the front door
And were driven away by the heat.
“Around back, take the stairs.” One said.
“I’m with you.”

And they plowed
Through the snow
To the back of the house.
“Got to go inside.”
“Kick the door down.”
And they did.

Inside everything was ablaze
The back stirs were partially gone.
“Give me a boost.
If I can stand on your shoulders
I can crawl up.
And get out of here it’s hell.”

A moment later,
Having made his way up the stairs
To the bedrooms,
He found the two kids.
The older one was holding the baby in his arms
And was softly crying.

“I’m here to help.
Give me the baby
Take my hand.”

He made his way to the window
The crowd below saw them clearly.
The man was wearing a sailor’s blue uniform,
In his hand
He held the baby
The small boy was
Holding firm to his leg.

The wind shifted,
And a whirlwind of sparks
Fed the flame as the
Resin from the old pine
Gave its last to the fire.

Then the old house gave a moan,
Followed by a horrendous crash.
The roof of the frame house
Came tumbling inward
Sweeping everything in its path.
The concussion blew out the windows.
The sides of the house swayed out
Then slowly inward
As they fell into the inferno.

The crowd stood,
So quiet
You could once again here
The church bell continuing to peal.

The Schmidt’s took Betsy.
“Come home with us.”

“No, I’m going to the church first.”

And so they went.

At the door,
The Priest’s house keeper
Met them and
Held wide the door.

There in the darkened room
Lit only by the blare
From the fire up the street,
Stood the Priest
Holding Betsy’s baby
His hand resting on the lad’s head.

“Jesse dropped them off
Said, he had to go.”

“Jesse? ’

“Is something wrong.”

Mrs. Schmidt stood there for a moment,
“We better be getting home.”

The next day the town was abuzz
With the strange happenings
No one could rightly
Explain what they had seen.

At the Schmidt’s
Everyone was out of the house
Except the Mister and Missus
When a taxi arrived at the front.

A smartly dressed naval officer
Who was well over 6 feet tall
Holding a bundle,
Crawled out of the cab.

“Wait.”

At the door,
He asked if this was the home
Of John and Wilma Schmidt
If they had a son named Jesse.

“Yes? ”

“Mr. Schmidt
I am with the United States Navy
It is my duty to inform you
That your son,
Jesse Schmidt has been killed.

He was aboard one of our destroyers in the Pacific.
Two weeks ago that ship was sunk
In a battle engagement and all members
Of the crew were lost.

I offer you the thanks of
The President of the United States
For your sacrifice and I personally
Want to offer my condolences.”

He gave them the folded flag,
Returned to the taxi and was gone.