Never Abandoning Desire Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

On Thanksgiving Day
movies with my obese
twelve year old nephew
Navin
saw Rocky IV
crowd in the theater
cheered Rocky
walls rocking
in passion
man sitting in front of us
yelling, “execute him”
referring to the Russian
in the ring with Rocky
said it eleven times
each scream louder than the one before.
after the film Navin went to the toilet
suddenly he called, “Uncle Stevie, Uncle Stevie.”
“what? can’t hardly breathe in here.”
“no toilet paper.”
“two big popcorns,
three sodas,
two ice-cream cones,
a bag of M&Ms—
what the hell you expect? ”
“no toilet paper.”
“forget about it.”
“can’t wipe.”
“forget about it.”
“mommy always says
wipe after a dump.”
“not now.”
“what? ”
“when you get home.”
“I’m gonna tell.”
I opened the other stalls
found none
went downstairs to get a roll
was told by the manager
someone’s been stealing the stuff
for weeks
so he didn’t put any out,
the man
who screamed
wore a red velour shirt
and plaid pants
he exclaimed, “great film.
seein’ it again
how bout you?
nobody throws a punch
like Rocky,
coulda beat Marciano I betcha.”
before I could respond
I heard Navin mumble, “Let’s scram.”
the guy asked, “Your son? ”
“nephew.”
he gleefully asserted, “eat your Wheaties
and you could be another Rocky
when you grow up. well,
maybe not another Rocky
cause there’s only one Rocky,
never be another like him—
couldn’t be
he’s the Champ of Champs.”
Navin mumbled once more, “let’s scram.”
outside I asked, “what’s
the big hurry? supper
ain’t for an hour.”
“wiped with my draws
then flushed ‘em
bowl overflowed.”
“oh.”
“you know that guy? ”
“never seen him before.”
“talked like a fruitcake.”
“liked the movie a lot.”
“talked like that stuff was real.”
at the bus stop
Navin spotted a bakery
mumbling, “need a few jelly donuts
to settle my stomach.”