Page 15 - Contrast1978Marchv21n2
P. 15
Aunt Ruth went to Towson Teacher I s School
in ca.rt.oon voice recited Latin
midget in dress that hid her ankl.es
looked J.ike a tiny man
terribly shy
top of her. class reading Virgil. Eo Horace.
on the bus
a thirties bum stole her pocketbook
while she blinked owl-eyed
out the window of Ro:me in ,Baltimore downtown.
wa't.ching thefal.l
"to become a teacher"
was what she wrote under ambition
but too .many children laughed when
she conjugated vema on tiptoe •
i.nstead she pa,c.ked bacon at Rs,skay
for 33 years a virgin
reading caeser' s Gae.l..l.icwars at lunchtime
gray bairpinned under sanrtary hat;
dressing pork in plastic
herli tUe bands chilled lit bloody
she kept all. Rome locked Ln her throat
alone on the .night shift.
-Jeeee G'Lass~ Jr.
-l3-
