CLOSE TO HERE
CLOSE TO HERE
On the sidewalk
in front of the gay bar
across from the donut shop
a man has drawings for sale.
One hundred dollars each.
They are done in black ball point pen
on long sheets of watercolor paper.
each has a theme like
“the military struggle”
which depicts men with bulging muscles
wrestling a giant snake
laid atop the scales of justice.
he says that kids today
just go to art school
to hide from their parents
and get “thug life” tattoos
while nobody is looking.
He could draw each one of them under a table
he says.
That’s why he does it like this.
On the street.
With the people.
No photo copies.
All original.
You can’t hide out here.
You either have it or you don’t.
And he does.
He’s been doing it for thirty years like this.
Preaching the gospel
Drawing these pictures.
Playing guitar,
harmonica,
singing.
Also he does impressions
Sixty-six of them.
Sixty-six famous impressions.
His most popular, he says
is Rodney Dangerfield.
That’s the one the people want to see
Rodney.