the women were in the kitchen
M was stoned
she had been putting food on the table
before it was cooked
i was stoned
listening to my uncle out in his garage study
sitting among his collections of bottle openers
safety razors
plastic tabletop AM radios
checker sets
bibles
small bottles filled with purloined rocks and dirt
from different National Parks and Monuments
and other things too many and strange to mention
he had a stuffed file folder on his desk
documenting he said
the circumstances in which his father, my grandfather
had shot and killed a number of men
i did not find this unbelievable for grandfather
was a Texas transplant from Tennessee
and a dead shot
“hey!” someone hollered
“it’s thanksgiving, come and get it!”
for so it was
The Ace Hotel Notebook 