They Call Him Einstein
I call him Paul.
The bank tellers love him
They call him Einstein.
Is it his white, cobwebby flyaway hair
or his simplicity is genius attitude that wins them over?
He was a child of the 60's
raised on Dylan, CCR, rock concerts and good pot
who graduated to a life
labouring away in grease in a bus garage
ducking madly driven vehicles discharging exhaust in his face on suicide freeways
changing monster tires and fixing ailing brakes
routing through scattered misplaced tools on a hot afternoon
smoking Players in camaderie with fellow mechanics.
Einstein was a free spirit with an adventurous mind
once hiking the backwoods with a retriever by his side
sleeping on cold, pine needles on wet mossy ground
beside campfires shooting sparks into the night
as a young man he hitchhiked through Europe
following dreams and casting his fate to the wind
like so many others of that time
now Covid has altered his course and determined his future
and instead of yielding a wrench he flicks the remote
he's retired to a soft couch, addicted to the news, the latest Covid statistics
and his daily walk to buy lottery tickets
in his pursuit of the magic win.
Einstein diligently collects garbage by the roadside
empty beer cans, pop bottles and the occasional discarded treasure
someone's pliers, a muddy screwdriver, a discarded jacket
to collect dust with unwanted bicycles and car parts in a rented garage
the seat of his pants sag like the jowls on his face
he's stored ambition on a shelf
and delves obsessively now on health woes, obituaries and the weather.
I glance at his face
at 70 Einstein resembles his mother
She lived to be 96.
About the Creator
Maureen Kellar-Kirby
Maureen Kellar-Kirby, author of "Go Back Jack" and "The Leprechaun Who Was Not a Mouse" - Total Recall Press - movie scripts "Go Back Jack", "Jimi's Last Poem" and "Idiot House" with music soundtracks. https://www.maureenkellar.com.
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