I got Norby in my office, I said, 'Norby,
'I have an idea, you go out to California
'For three or four months, whatever,
'Six months, go out to California and
'We'll stay in touch, we'll be in touch
'While you're in California, but go out
'To California for some period of time,
'That's what I would urge you to do,
'I would urge you to go out to California
'For a while, three months, six months,
'Go out to California is what I'm saying,
'Get on a plane and go out to California,
'Go to California for five or six months,
'Or don't put a time limit on it. Okay?'
If you’re in the used car parts business
For any length of time you’ll start seeing
How this person is like a used fan clutch
Or that person is like a used water pump
Because of how they look and also how
They fit Into the overall system of things.
A water pump delivers coolant to the
Engine and then back to the radiator
And then back to the engine again
So the cycle keeps going around
To provide coolant to the engine
Or else the engine will overheat.
If a person started to overheat
At my place of business Tony Drago
Cooled them down like a water pump
Which he always looked like anyway
And when he started getting older
He looked like a used water pump.
It was the same with how Katsulos
When he started getting older
Looked like a used fan clutch and
How he and Tony Drago were like
The cooling system that you need
In the used car parts business.
But here is what else I’ve learned:
In the used car parts business don't
Let used car parts take over until
Used car parts are the only things
You think about. Because the door
Is always open and so is the road.
Ha! The Packard Eucalyptus! Just like
Walter Chrysler had the Chrysler Ozymandias,
Just like Ransom Olds wasted all his money
On the Oldsmobile Harbinger and just like
Roy Chapin could not quit tinkering with the
Hudson Gubernatorial, that's exactly how
Jim Nance made a mess of things at Packard
During the 1950s with the V-12 Eucalyptus
Which never made it to production and could
Have been called the Packard White Elephant.
Someplace on the lot I have an axle assembly
From a Eucalyptus, a muffler from a Harbinger,
And a flywheel from a Hudson Gubernatorial
But where? Where are somebody else's dreams?
Terrific, Mitch. My favorite is "The Door is Always Open," though it is hard to beat the last line of "The Packard Eucalyptus" (or the poem's first word, for that matter). "Norby" is, among other things, a play on the triolet as a verse form. Anyway. . .bravo.
Posted by: David Lehman | August 29, 2020 at 10:26 AM
I love the voice of the speaker. I get an entire presence, physique, wardrobe, tone of voice---maybe even a little bit of a hitch in his gait.
Posted by: miriam o'neal | August 29, 2020 at 10:28 AM
These are wonderful poems, guess i will be looking into another poet totally new to me...ioanna carlsen, great omen for a new year
Posted by: Ioannaccarlsen | January 02, 2021 at 11:49 AM