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They Call Him Einstein

I call him Paul.

By Maureen Kellar-KirbyPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 1 min read
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They Call Him Einstein
Photo by Taton Moïse on Unsplash

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.

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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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