alvin
is either twenty-five or thirty
but he’s small, a little mental and baby-faced
so he hangs out with the kids
when people find out his age
they always say,
oh, i thought he was much younger than that
alvin is harmless,
people like to say
last week a part-time employee
caught alvin with his hands down his pants
jacking off to japanese animation films
usually he just stares at the screen
laughing at whatever he’s watching
like large bursts of laughter
demented, slapping the keyboard laughter
the other adults here
complain to me about him
shouldn’t he be on the kids computers? they say
but i ignore them
because i can’t stand the sight of these people
after working here for so many years
it’s rumored alvin takes karate
that’s he’s a black belt
a guy like alvin
should know how to defend himself
he’s often in here
with cuts on his hands
and bruises on his face
from who know where
they say alvin takes karate
but that he fights against little kids
i wonder if his sansei and the other kid’s parents
know that alvin is twenty-five or thirty
instead of the eleven or twelve he looks
some nights when i’m stuck here at the job
i think about alvin doing karate against kids
punching them and kicking them
tossing children violently on the mat
while their dumb parents sit there applauding the effort
then i start laughing
i’ve always been of the opinion
that everyone should get to punch
a twelve-year-old boy in the face
at least once in their life
i’m laughing
alvin is at his computer laughing
the sour-faced adults
who get up to complain
can only look helplessly
between the two of us
and in those moments
it’s like everything is right with the world
alvin sitting there laughing
not thinking about his sad, pathetic existence
me sitting here laughing
and, for at least a second,
not at all thinking about mine.
not at all thinking about mine.
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