by John Oliver Hodges

40th Road, Flushing, Queens, Chester Burger

–
A Pretty Cheap Shirt

I say “Hello” to women I pass, and
am on the lookout for accidents, like
today, how a woman tripped and fell
when leaving a pizza shop. “Hey, are
you OK?” I got to say.

I wanted to help, but she trotted off,
all strong and blushing. A few minutes
later, in downtown Flushing, a shirt
for sale caught my attention. I’d just
never seen anything like it before.

It was brown and across its front
were the words: I HAVE NOTHING.
The three Chinese guys sitting beside
the shirt were amused by my interest.

“I have nothing,” they said, and giggled,
and I guess they saw that the slogan
applied to me. “Two dallah,” one of
them said, and I looked away. That was
a pretty cheap shirt.
–

John Oliver Hodges is trying to learn Korean. His poetry has appeared in The Southern Poetry Anthology, Chiron Review, Steam Ticket and other journals. His novella entitled War of the Crazies is forthcoming from Main Street Rag. Advance orders can be placed here: http://www.mainstreetrag.com/JHodges.html