January 2016
After growing up under the shadow of Heppenstall Steel Mill in Pittsburgh, Pa., I have spent much of my life near the sea, including 10 years in the Caribbean, which serves as the setting for my three published mystery novels, Full Body Rub, Looking for Lisa, and Looking for Lauren. On occasion, I've gone back "home," trying to fit into my old neighborhood. It has been alleged that I've had many aliases, none of which I have acknowledged. I am no one else.
Editor's Note: In his submission letter to me, Joseph said this: "Please consider the following poems from my unpublished manuscript, STASHU KAPINSKI IN A FAMILY WAY. Stashu is an amalgam of voices—unemployed steel workers, chronic drunks, disenfranchised immigrants, the lost--from the Polish neighborhood in Pittsburgh where I grew up."
It Keeps Goin' Round
There's music out there—
boogie woogie, soca, reggae,
your standard rock 'n roll, even
dem ole tunes--waltz an' fox trot
swing an' polka too.
The whole earth is shakin',
a whole lotta rhythm goin' on.
Only you can't hear it too good
if your battery's dead
an' the phone's unplugged
an' the TV's blarin'
an' there's a sale on cheap booze
an' your liver's so big it hurts
an' your eyes is bleedin'
cause you got your head
shoved so far up America's ass.
Comin' Up Short
"Whar's the beef!"
You remember that, huh?
This ole lady's surprise
when she opens the hamburger bun.
"Whar's the beef!"
she screams over again.
I mean it caught the country's imagination—
kids on the playground,
people on the bus,
my buddies in the mill,
dem loonies in the bars,
even my ole girlfriend was yellin' it
which I didn't care too much for,
especially when she lifted the sheets.
It Keeps Goin' Round
There's music out there—
boogie woogie, soca, reggae,
your standard rock 'n roll, even
dem ole tunes--waltz an' fox trot
swing an' polka too.
The whole earth is shakin',
a whole lotta rhythm goin' on.
Only you can't hear it too good
if your battery's dead
an' the phone's unplugged
an' the TV's blarin'
an' there's a sale on cheap booze
an' your liver's so big it hurts
an' your eyes is bleedin'
cause you got your head
shoved so far up America's ass.
Comin' Up Short
"Whar's the beef!"
You remember that, huh?
This ole lady's surprise
when she opens the hamburger bun.
"Whar's the beef!"
she screams over again.
I mean it caught the country's imagination—
kids on the playground,
people on the bus,
my buddies in the mill,
dem loonies in the bars,
even my ole girlfriend was yellin' it
which I didn't care too much for,
especially when she lifted the sheets.
©2016 Joseph Lisowski