dumbfoundry

"When I was a housepainter for a decade, work would dry up each winter. Down to pennies, I’d run to Lee Goldston, whom I drank with regularly at McGlinchey's, the cheapest bar downtown. Lee dubbed himself President of the Associated Philadelphia International Company, APIC, but all it was was Lee with a bucket, a squeegee, a bottle of dish washing detergent and some scrunched up newspaper. As a window washer, Lee was paid $5 for a typical job, but much more for a convenience store or a church. Although these were his hustles, Lee always gave me half of the day’s take whenever I accompanied him. Twenty dollars would keep me high on Spam for a few days. Once, I washed windows after appearing at a community college as a guest poet. It would have been a hoot had one of the admiring students saw me vigorously wiping water before it could freeze on the window pane. 'Yo, isn’t that the poet who came to our class yesterday?!'"

This entry was posted by Ivy on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 at 12:36 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.