Ken Bruen  quote from The Devil

                                     You come out of a cemetery and it’s but a spit to the nearest pub.

true that

Milwaukee Avenue

cemetery one side for blocks  lotsa dead polacks

                                                      opposite side

Several establishmentsFuck you

                                       Awright awright   Several bars

Old Style on tap

racks of whiskey

                     plenty to chase the blues away

not that they ever caught him 

anesthetised

               they bayedsniffed around  found the tree he wentup

but like Tarzan the Apeman

                               he swung to other trees without his feet touching the ground

inebriated

braided

             but not tied in knots

feet would touched down again in a friends car or hed take a bus to within a few blocks of his parents home

Where have you been? his mother asked

Paulies home from Nam Buried him today

    I put a plate of food in the oven for you.

Thanks Maw

You’re welcome.

she wasnt keen on Paulie

but no onenot even his Maw who had opinions shed rattle off unsolicited  would speak ill of the dead

Nil nisi bonum

she attended enough Latin Masseshad Catholic clergy in the family to know what he said

                                                                                               Yes.

God keep him. because she was over him long before they even got to high school  He’s no good.

Hes a riot

               the dust has settled

ashes to ashes  

dust to dust

itd be a long time before Paulie would molderif ever  pumpedfilled with embalming fluids

                                                                                              if he had good sense he wouldnt have died shot in the back would have died his body obliterated unable to be viewed

Dog tag death

    he wondered what Paulie was thinking

his folks were finally able to tamp him down

theyd visit him frequently to remind him

AwPaulie   Paulie      Paulie

                                   he mused over meat loaf corn niblets roasted potatoes green salad from the frig

         but try as he may in his alcoholic stupor he couldnt communicate with the dead

 

. . . but a spit to the nearest pub.

2258,  Saturday,  31  5. 25

1037,  Sunday,  1  6. 25