watch them push the crippled and the infirm
in their wheelchairs
on to the electric lift
which carries them up into the long bus
where each chair is locked down
and each person has a window
of their own.
they are all white-skinned, like
pale paint on thin cardboard;
most of them are truly old;
there are a number of women, a few old
men, and 3 surprisingly young men
of whom wear neck braces that gleam
in the late afternoon sun
and all 3 with arms as thin as
rope and hands that resemble clenched
claws.
the caretaker seems very kind, very
understanding, he’s a
marvelous fat fellow with a
rectangular head and he wears a broad
smile which is not
false.
the old women are either extremely thin
or overweight.
most have humped backs and shoulders
and wispy
very straight
white hair.
they sit motionless, look straight
ahead as the electric lift raises them
on to the bus.
there is no conversation;
they appear calm and not embittered
by their plight. both men and women
are soon loaded on to the waiting bus except for
the last one, a very old man, almost skeletal,
with a tiny round head, completely bald, a
shining white dot against the late afternoon sky,
waving a cane above his head as he is
pushed shouting on to the electric lift:
WELL, THEY ROBBED OUR ASSES
AGAIN, CLEANED US OUT, WE’RE A
BUNCH OF SUCKERS TOTTERING ON THE
EDGE OF OUR GRAVES AND WE LET THEM TAKE
OUR LAST PENNY AGAIN!
as he speaks
he waves the cane above his head and
cracks the marvelous fat fellow
who is pushing his chair,
cracks the cane against the side of
the caretaker’s head.
it’s a mighty blow and
the attendant staggers, grabs
hard at the back of the
wheelchairas
the old man yells: “OH, JERRY,
I’M SORRY, I’M SO SORRY, WHAT CAN I
DO? WHAT
CAN I DO?”
Jerry steadies himself, he is not badly hurt.
it’s a small concussion but within an hour
he will possess a knot the size of an
apricot.
it’s all right, Sandy, only
I’ve told you again and again, please
be careful with that damned
cane...”
Sandy is pushed on to the electric
lift, it rises and he disappears into
the bus’s dark interior.
then Jerry climbs slowly into the bus, takes
the wheel, starts up, the door closes with a hiss,
the bus begins to move to the exit,
and on the back of the vehicle
in bold white letters
on dark blue background
see the words:
HARBOR HOME OF LOVE.
Other works by Charles Bukowski...
