Small Boats

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by Steve Kowit



The California tuna fisherman
who bought my van in Puntarenas
had a son who'd been killed in the war.
I remember sitting in the heat & listening.
He was a bald guy with a bulbous nose,
& a talker. He made his
wife bring in Mike's photo.
Then he started in on the Chinese,
how they were going to take over the world.
"William, don't... please...
no one's interested..."
The coffee cup rattled in her fingers.
Afterwards we bussed back along the coast road,
a thick fog rolling in off the Pacific
like a Sung scroll:
small boats disappearing into the mist.

Comments

  1. The PliersOctober 5, 2010 at 8:48 PM

    What a morning it is for reflections upon the seas! Between you and the Magic Lantern Show projectionist, I feel like I better keep my lifejacket close at hand.

    Gerard Depardieu was born at the tail end of 1948 in the town of Châteauroux, l'Indre, France. A scrappy little working-class kid who was greatly influenced by the lengthy American military presence there.

    The Americans are now long gone. Châteauroux is a town of few industrial resources, and the city is in the process of developing a business park for a group of enterprises underwritten by the Chinese, with the stipulation that 20% of the workforce be imported from China. A tract housing project for those employees is projected to be built in the vicinity of the business park and a Franco-Chinese university is on the boards for construction. Of course, the municipal swimming pool that is sorely needed by the populace will have to wait...

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 7, 2010 at 6:59 PM

    A sad moment....and more....thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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