Different Slants

My left hand

Worn and wrinkled

Swollen Blue Veins like

The Louisiana Delta

Fueling its strength

Has been burn

Broken

Held thousands of dollars

And been penny-less

*

A sometimes bloodied fist
Held a paint brush
A hammer
A baby 
A pen 
Changed a tire 
A diaper 
Held a dog 
Wiped away tears 
Been expressive without words 
Clicked a shutter 
Unrolled a Torah
Lit candles
Offered a ring in marriage
Caressed a beautiful woman’s face 
Both in love and after she died 
Then it planted 
A tree to remember her

*
Yet when it opens 
My window shade 
Every morning 
When I look for 
Beams of warm sunlight to
Pour into me 
and 
Jolt my confused heart 
Fluttering back to life 
And I wonder
Still believing 
Still hoping 
That anything
Anything 
Remains possible

***

This poem was inspired by my driving from Racine, Wisconsin to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming and back, frequently noticing my worn and wrinkled left hand, for about 5,000 miles. I decided to turn the merry-go-round of swirling words inside my mind into a poem, so I could rest.

Three months later I met Nancy Alexander online and in a cafe on November 19, 2019. We were married on May 15, 2022.                                 Things can seem so black, so hopeless, and then miracles happen to make your heart happy again. In a month our first anniversary wll happen.

***

Publishing News! 

Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart  and Vol. Two: Fighting Words

Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history about one man’s life than a person may imagine.

Please visit my new website: http://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.

Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
I will get your books to you within ten days.
Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:

Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.

Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998                                                                                                                    (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM

Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping

I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools should call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.