summer 1985, allentown pa

Here's a poem I wrote about Uncle Erich back in 1985 after I spent a summer in Allentown living with the Salomons and working at Salomon Jewelers:

summer 1985, allentown pa.

uncle erich the watchmaker

comes home from the iga w/ ring bologna 

& $5.22 worth of fruit & cereal & a-

treat to get his 1/2 priced 5lb bag of

granulated sugar

uncle erich the watchmaker

stands up from the table & pronounces

the meal "sehr gut" as he reaches into

the refrigerator for the ring bologna

then returns to his chair and eyes the

the bologna closely

uncle erich the watchmaker

begins cutting a piece of bologna off

the ring, separating the thin slice from

the ring carefully, as if he were

opening the back of a mid-19th century

pocket watch.

uncle erich the watchmaker 

brushes mustard on the slice, surely

thinking he's cleaning the back of that           

railroad watch & we sit tensely for a

moment, hoping he doesn't go up to his

workroom & dry the bologna in sawdust

before popping it into his mouth