Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood’s poetry books include Random Saints, Foggy Dog and Son of a Poet. Long ago he wrote an underground novel called Famous Potatoes and recently the award-winning memoir 99 Jobs: Blood Sweat and Houses. He has worked most of his life in the construction trades repairing and improving houses.

Atlantic City

At a virgin age
freshly growing fuzz
I’m walking the beach—
cross under a pier where
smell is cold and greenly wet.
A man appears from among the pilings
with a face like a chipmunk.
He starts talking friendly
so I respond sorta friendly with my voice
cracking like a hee-haw donkey, and he says
“Hey— you wanna go fuck around?”

Two second pause as it dawns on me
he means literally. He’s bigger
but I bet I’m quicker.
I say “No.”

He steps away.
It dawns on me he spends his days there
among the pilings like a hermit crab
waiting, asking.

And it dawns on me
along this empty beach in winter
so much is asked by the penis
and I don’t know crap
as surf keeps breaking, washing,
breaking, teaching
what I should learn.