Where is I?
You is where you is.
he read that
in The Good Lord Bird
the back and forth tickled him because
it was so genuine hed been on either end
of it though to be sure he preferred
being lost as to giving directions
lost
was easy
he often got lost as
a boy
school let out
his Maw wasnt coming to pick him
up she has three babies at home to care
for
he goofed off with schoolmates on
the asphalt playground and in the field beyond it and when they had to
leave were picked up and the grounds were deserted he walked over
to his school bag walked in the
direction opposite of where he lived four blocks off wondering where these other roads went that ran
off the main thoroughfare
off hed go
he found small business districts
he found different neighbourhoods
he found loud bus lines heavy
street traffic there he had to wait at
corners for lights to change that was exciting
and different from his neighbourhood
Hmmm it occurred to himhe wondered where his
neighbourhood was only because it was
getting dark
Excuse me he approached women because they were out and about men drove cars he couldnt find a policeman
Where am I
Are you lost, little boy?
Maybe But maybe not if you tell me where I am
Where do you live?
I live in Norwood on Neva
You’re in Edison . . You’re in
Harwood Heights . . You’re in Norridge . . You’re in Jefferson Park
he usually ended up near the forest preserves that grew
on either side of the Des Plaines River attracted
by the sound of the propeller airplanes flying in and out of O’Hare Airport
You’re a long way from home, boy.
Tell you what, you come home with me. Do you know your telephone number?
I do
Good. Then come with me and we’ll
go to my house sometimes
it was an apartment he liked apartment
buildings and you can call your Momma.
sometimes his father came to gather
him when he finally arrived home or the people took him home after they fed him
dinner or the police took him home
once a policeman turned on the prowlers
siren and flashing lights
his father referred to him during
the years before he left Illinois as his son who wasnt going to live there when
he grew up
he finally got out at twenty he
thought hed be gone at eighteen
those last two years damn near killed him
more than once in conversation
with his mother she called him Joe more
often than she called him Son Did you recognise
how much money you an Paw would have been ahead had you not taught me Grammas
telephone number and address when I was a little boy
Oh, it occurred to us; but we’d
grown partial to you.
1243, Reggae Friday, 29 1.
21
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