deep in the delta
small town mississippi
government checks arrive
every other friday
sustaining the misery
like an inadequate
methadone maintenance program
an unlikely place for saints and miracles
arriving each afternoon
in pigtails and hand me downs
glowing gap tooth grin
bounding from the schoolbus
toward her oasis
the w. w. lewis
cash and carry grocery
and general store
on the butcher block throne
behind the meat counter
off limits to commoners
peanut butter sandwich in one hand
nehi orange soda in the other
she is cinderella at the ball
for a few moments each schoolday afternoon
the childless couple’s opportunity
to indulge in parental playfulness
and selfless acts of kindness
handshake buzzers and whoopee cushions
fake plastic vomit puddle
lovingly handmade barbie doll clothes
and the precious easter outfit
red patent shoes and purse
bought brand new just for her
they closed the store
in nineteen seventy one
moved the butcher block
to their kitchen pantry
wanted her to have it someday
and twenty eight years later
that day finally came
the last time they would ever be together
now it stands in the breakfast nook
five hundred miles
and forty years away
from the site where magic
and miracles
changed her life forever
a cherished monument to her heroes
miss irene, queen of kindness
and mister warren, king of comedy
august 17, ‘98