Raised in a coal patch flaunts his mustache survives
on pierogis and Coca-Cola splashes liquid steel into girder
molds
plays the squeezebox plucks the guitar gulps dago red from a
pint bottle
sleeps it off in the Ford bets on the dog races carries a
switchblade
cheats at cards curves his rough palm round the hip of a big
Slovene girl
from Johnstown sings In Heaven There Is No Beer sings I’ve
Got a Wife at Home
swears at the umpire dreams of victory staggers into a
church
at two in the morning loves his brother as himself ignores
advice
spends his pay on a gold tooth
this bent old man with no teeth left a shabby dog
and five grandbabies Beloved Be Faithful he sings
and curves his rough palm over the dog’s
narrow head.
[From Chestnut Ridge, my verse-history-in-perpetual-progress, which centers on the people and the landscape of southwestern Pennsylvania. For a synopsis explanation of hunky culture, look here.]
3 comments:
Would this be the genesis of the word "hunk" as it describes a beefy, handsome fella?
That I don't know, but I've wondered. A lot of hunks among those young hunkys, that's for sure.
did a little more looking around; I find it interesting that the character Hunk in Wizard of Oz was a farmworker, who became the scarecrow.
Hm. A whole demographic I didn't even know about.
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