© Simón Vázquez
I
hated him
I
hated his dull brown hair
parted
to the left side
I
hated his dirty ears
his
crooked glasses
I
hated his Vietnam Vet father
stocking
booze at
the
local liquor store
I
hated his skeletal mother
walking
the neighborhood
since
she never learned to drive
I
hated his red cabbage stink
I
hated his one pair of jeans
his
two stained shirts
I
hated that of every boy
in
the fourth grade
I
was always the one
to
be paired with
Leldon
Grace for recess
so
I threw the frisbee
as
high as I could
as
hard as I could
and
watched Leldon Grace
charge
after the blue disc
I
watched him sprint five steps
into
the street and get
clipped
by a sleet gray Buick
I
joined the other children
gathered
on the sidewalk
as
the teachers screamed
for
someone to call 911
we
listened to the apologies
from
the Buick’s elderly driver
I
couldn’t take my eyes
away
from Leldon Grace
his
left leg broken, forehead
gashed
to the bone
those
cheap glasses, setting
lopsided
on the car’s hood
the
blood collected curbside
and
Leldon Grace still tried
to
claw his way out
of
the street but only
succeeded
in finger painting
crimson
on asphalt
seeing
him writhing
I
felt nothing
and
I realized
I
could do this again
to
anyone
-by Karl Koweski
Karl Koweski remains an enemy of the Amish, having launched
peanut brittle boycotts in 12 Mennonite communties. His poems and stories can be found here and
there. His collection of short stories
Blood and Greasepaint remains available and his latest Kockblockers will be out
in November.
Painting Courtesy: Simón Vázquez
Simón Vázquez (Barcelona, 1979) started in the field of
animation and studied at the School 9zero. But soon he turned to Arts, and studied at Barcelona Llotja. After engaging
in illustration, he led himself to painting and sculpture, and he has been doing exhibitions
for years at the galleries of
Spain and abroad.
