Different Slants

Seeing the World from a New Angle

Chicago: Leaving Storage Unit # 828 Periodical Blues…by Robert M. Katzman

Filed under: Gritty Katzman Chicago Stories,My Own Personal Hell,Rage!,Wisconsin stories — Bob at 12:32 pm on Wednesday, September 18, 2013

by Robert M. Katzman © September 18, 2013

(Rewritten March 10, 2023)

*

Rented a gloomy 10 x 10 space

Since ’05 when the rent

Was $50 bucks a month

Fucking Recession

Ate my house

Thought there were

100 boxes, but…

*

Now $115.00

A month is too much

I gotta go

Fetch ‘em

Thirty miles one way

Discovered with horror

There were

200

Goddamn boxes!

Now what?

*

Some went to

My silent store

1,000 posters

Melted into the walls

Among my

30,000 existing posters

Who could tell the difference?

 *

A few boxes

A couple dozen

 went to my current

(very) little

House on the prairie

Shoehorned

‘em in Between

My Wife

My Daughter

and

The Dogs

*

Once some

Delectable aged

Former treasures

Ain’t no more

Split boxes

Broken hearts

Now

They’re sleeping

Within the Dumpster

*

I load in the morning

Bleary 6 am

Twenty boxes at a time

Unload at night

Seemingly now heavier

Same twenty boxes

Day after day

Stagger home

Fall down

Repeat

 *

Last week

The 848 Slave

Woke up

Tripped in the dark

Over my grandkid’s

Wooden Rocking Horse

Hit my greying head

Cut my foot

God hates me

*

15 boxes to go

The heavy ones

Left for last

Tomorrow

Can my rusty old van

Take one more load?

Can my fragile spine

Like a Hebrew in Egypt

Lift the Bricks

One more time?

*

Ruler of the Universe

Why hast Thou forsaken me?

Beseeching the vast Black Sky

The Retail Poet

Closes his Store

Turns out the lights

Retires to anonymity

Collapses

Whatever

***

5 Comments »

Comment by Sheryl Rak

September 18, 2013 @ 12:37 pm

So very true to our experiencing, dear heart
Loving care to you in your distress <3

Comment by J Steve Adler

September 18, 2013 @ 2:37 pm

I found this to be another excellent example of your great ability to poetically describe one of your many “adventures”. I was with you throughout your struggle with your boxes and the several references to past experiences like the one with the wooden rocking horse. Keep up the great work!

Comment by Amy Jennings

September 18, 2013 @ 3:05 pm

Jeez Bob, I have a van and muscles. I just moved and let’s face it, it ain’t no picnic! Ask me for help and I will come. I feel your pain.

Comment by Jim Payne

March 10, 2023 @ 3:09 pm

Bob, Your struggle to have to let go of what was such an integral part of your life even though it was past its days, was sad. Yes, it was the final of those disappoints, but it was real. It took a lot of courage to carry it through. You are a good man.

Comment by Brad Dechter

March 11, 2023 @ 8:52 am

Having left my own “baby” after 39 years, I understand how heart-wrenching it is to go through what you experienced. I have a closet in my home filled with the things/keepsakes I felt were my best takeaways. I recently opened it after about 6 months and took my sad trip down memory lane. That said, that trip grounded me and reminded me of who I am/was for over half my life.
Thanks for the memory! Hugs!

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