BONUS poem of the day 04.14.09

scam
--for marilyn chambers

we had a good scam
going back then
rick would go over
and take care of his neighbor’s
apartment
the neighbor was a single guy
older
traveled a lot
and rick always said the one attraction
to watching the guy’s house
was access to all the porn that he had
and he had the good stuff too
the classics
seika films and deep throat
behind the green door
rick would borrow those movies and others
he’d bring them to my house
and we’d dub them from
one tape to another
while smoking marlboro reds
and then sell them to freshman
in between classes
and when rick turned eighteen
he got a membership to west coast video
and we’d spend the hours after school
dubbing the west coast porn collection
onto cheap tapes
stacking them in book bags
in the back of rick’s 1973 station wagon
to sell
i don’t know how much we made
not enough to keep it going
plus when word got around
it became harder and harder
to make deals in the hallway
in between classes
so we stopped our little empire
and went back to the single income
of bad jobs in malls
or mowing lawns on the weekend
and all the leftover porn stayed on the tapes
it went to good use though
because aside from itching to get out
i remember senior year in high school
as a time of blindness and hairy palms
and no young girls beating down my door
and when i found out that you died today
marilyn
well it just brought that all back for me
all those wonderful ladies with their legs spread
on faded magnetic tape
no commitment, no obligation but to view
you in a black room with countless men
so thank you for all those years
all that money
my voice becoming a deep moan
and one final run
of all that beautiful teenage whacking.

04.14.09