By J.J. Tindall
Big Fat 49 to Strawberry Town
For Nello Ferrara (1919-2012), Chicago Candy Giant
I spilled out into the black breeze
like a leopard in jeopardy.
Electric light ahead on Hirsch
beckoned a bejangled, fat
49er, the southbound CTA Western 49.
I could just about see it shine.
49 to the Blue Line,
big blue lime.
My objective was Strawberrytown.
There’s a candy factory there
and the black breeze
smells often of strawberries.
I wanted to catch that bus.
Things were lookin’ good
but then I got a little cute.
This is a hazard,
like a blizzard of buzzards.
I melted into my calloused paws
but I sprung too late. I blew the call.
O dammit all!
My fresh, white whale–
white flesh for a water leopard–
blew right past me, man.
It was remarkable strategic failure.
The night hawk/horizontal sheath
of the grid, tinged
with the diesel of Western Avenue
enveloped me completely.
My eyes were sculpted into shivs.
But then I rallied.
I imagined a beacon of bells
and then indeed did bells beckon.
The shadows simmered with imagined hells
then I pretended I heard a deacon of bells.
Again: it was a remarkable strategic failure
but the objective remained
Strawberryland!
Due to the candy factory there,
with its monumental neon sign
like a Sphinx in the dusk
the black breeze smells
often of strawberries.
–
J.J. Tindall is the Beachwood’s poet-in-residence. He welcomes your comments. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.
–
More Tindall:
* Chicagoetry: The Book
* Ready To Rock: The Music
* Kindled Tindall: The Novel
Posted on February 10, 2012