The Famous Cocky Paul Poem by Laurence Overmire

Sold cars
Suckers caught looking
Under the hood without a
Flashlight
Flaws disguised in sleight-of-mouth
He kicked the tires
Of many a re-tread
Badgered old ladies for bundles
Of ill-begotten cash
A snake-charmer with a chubby, schoolboy smile
So slick his hair sometimes
Slid off his head.

He did it his way
Pants down in the back seat of respectability
Before long
His dingy, pot-holed lot
Became a mega mall of
Showroom flash and four-wheel dash
An automotive mecca
So successful children imitate
His bad commercials on TV.

Now he lives on the lake
A stately mansion, white pillar and blasted brick
Belongs to the Kings Canyon Country Club
Where, it has been said
They even named a sandwich after him
Ham and turkey on rye with a very special
Horsey sauce.


(Previously published in ZZZ Zyne, XLII,2001)