it was a sign of the End Times
when the Dillards department store
which dressed affluent women and men
was closed justlikethat
and reborn as a gigantic arcade
POSTSCRIPT: The above poem refers to Sikes Senter shopping mall in Wichita Falls, TX. It was built in 1966, then sat empty until October of 1974. What remains (including a Boot Barn, a Hot Topic, a Books-a-Million and an AMC multiplex) will celebrate its 50th anniversary next month.
dead for two weeks
I do feel something
although it doesn’t show
>
all I can say is this:
I didn’t think it would
be quite this soon
and I never imagined
you leaving this world
before my mother and myself
>
things I wanted to tell you outweigh
whatever I did manage through
phone calls and texts
>
at least we were in some kind of contact
not a scenario where we hadn’t spoken in years
he died at 74
never married
one daughter
one granddaughter
child of the keep it to yourself 50s
came of age in generation gap 60s
attracted to women and soft drugs
brought to heel by the county court
cried when he had to cut hair short
and present as nice boy gone bad
>
had a brother nine years younger
far too young to bond with
often separated by parents and miles
learned how to be a salesman
able to get others to believe him
as long as others weren’t mother father relatives
>
but he loved sports
collected memorabilia
graduated from University of Texas Austin
spent his retirement going to various sporting events
this took his mind off declining health
and being denied access to granddaughter
by daughter who sometimes preferred him at arm’s length
>
passed away a day following minor traffic accident
began eternal sleep in a duplex protecting him
from Central Texas humidity outside
