November 2015
I am an Associate Professor of English at Erie Community College North in Buffalo, N.Y. I have 5 books, 2 chapbooks, and 1 CD of poetry. I am married to Maria Sebastian, a well-known singer/songwriter, and we perform our poetry and music together at many venues in the WNY area. For more information please visit my website: www.perrynicholas.com
The Cheapskate of WWII
Uncle Tom was the cheapest
son of a bitch you could imagine,
even charged his own nephews
a quarter for a coke at the counter
of his Chew and Chat diner.
He’d scold if we left a light on,
curse us while he turned them off,
give us a whack upside the head
as we mumbled sorry, and blame
everything on the Depression.
As a young man, Tom ran away
first chance he got, off to the Navy,
where he saved that stranger in a lifeboat
free of charge. No reward at all.
Maybe he tightened up quick after that.
I spied Uncle Tom crying at the counter once.
Flicking off the fluorescent stars,
he must have decided it was easier
to be a prick, alone and floating in the dark.
originally published in Like Trying To Explain, 2010
Uncle Tom was the cheapest
son of a bitch you could imagine,
even charged his own nephews
a quarter for a coke at the counter
of his Chew and Chat diner.
He’d scold if we left a light on,
curse us while he turned them off,
give us a whack upside the head
as we mumbled sorry, and blame
everything on the Depression.
As a young man, Tom ran away
first chance he got, off to the Navy,
where he saved that stranger in a lifeboat
free of charge. No reward at all.
Maybe he tightened up quick after that.
I spied Uncle Tom crying at the counter once.
Flicking off the fluorescent stars,
he must have decided it was easier
to be a prick, alone and floating in the dark.
originally published in Like Trying To Explain, 2010
©2015 Perry S. Nicholas