Taking Aunt Jessie To Morganza Poem by Fred Tarr

the hot dog man lives in a fool's paradise,
grins Cheshire at the mistake of the world. booly-boo!
in Butler Pa. outside the hot dog palace
in 65' he stopped us, shouting
'let's build a palace of diamonds! '

& said he'd seen my Dad, the tallest man
in Western Pa. play volleyball:
the hot dog man, his arm withered,
beaming out like the super nova
of 1110 & hunted for death by the Shriners.

here before us, not diminished
by the moon-shimmer of the vestibule,
riding a cloud into our silence,

he warns us he's about to disappear.
we can't get rid of him soon enough, -
inside us mooning out into the cold.

only these lined coats we wear
won't let us show, won't let us go.

(Butler, Pittsburgh, Pa 1972)