and all they had under the overcast sky
was a small boat they
shared

The old man would drink from
afternoon till morning
and sleep all day
He wasn’t good for much. Had cancer
of the liver and enough
kidney stones to add about
a newborn’s weight in his core

“So I’m drinking,” he said. “Cuz I wanna
bring it earlier. My end.”

“Well,” said the girl. “You’re drinking
my money. I work hard
for that shit, you know?”

“Shut up,” said the old man. “You’ll have
all the money in the world
after I’m gone. You can sell
the boat and
maybe borrow some money and get yourself
a small, cozy apartment
somewhere.”

“You’re delusional,” said the girl. “With
the money this boat’s worth
I’ll be lucky to get me a
doormat. Used.”

“Don’t be disrespectful now,” said the old
man. “I love this here boat
like my wife.”

“You never had a wife.”

“Well shit! I love her as if she
were my wife, okay? And she’s
worth something. She’s worth
a lot, I tell you. If you think she won’t
be enough to get you
started nicely in life, well, you should’ve
gotten yourself a husband.”

“I don’t need a fucking husband. I’ll
get one after I get
out of poverty, not before.”

The old man watched the gray
clouds above. It might
as well have been
grass to his eyes. “Oh, I sure hope to
see that day
from the other world. You think I’ll
have to look up to see it?
Or down?”

The girl didn’t
answer

“Anyway,” said the old man. “I’m sure it’ll
happen one day, my dear. Until
then... Keep writing, okay? You’ll come
out with the hit eventually. I know I
haven’t been of much use
to you in this life. But hey, maybe in the next.
Maybe, as God reaches with his
hand to take me above, I’ll bite off his
little finger and spit it
on the boat to you. Use it as a pen. See if
you’ll write with it
a story no eye could ever ignore. I want
this for you, my dear.
Even if I’ll trade my heaven for it.”

“Oh, you crazy
old man.”

“I’m a serious crazy old man. Crazy
enough to see heaven
in you making it with your writings, dear.
Thus, no matter how bad or evil I’ve
been I know I’ll be going
to heaven. I believe
in you.”

She said nothing. Handed him a can
of beer and
went back to her writing

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "Crazy enough to see heaven in you making it with your writings, dear"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!