Robert Cooperman

Multi-Tasking

Evenings, Dad took sanctuary
in our apartment’s bathroom,
to study the racing form,
smoke a Camel, work a stick
of chewing gum until it lost its pop,
and chew a toothpick into wood pulp.

Too bad, he was better at those tasks
than at picking winners at Belmont
or Aqueduct.  But hope sprang eternal
and the bookie was two floors away,
and some nights, when Dad sent me up
with a scrawled nag’s name,
Mr. Epstein would purr,

“Me and your father would be square
if he’d agree to go partners
in my friendly Thursday night games:
all his bets covered.”

I’d tell Dad, who’d smile,
at Mr. Epstein’s confidence—
the gambler confiding
my father was the best poker player
he’d ever seen—

but that was one task too many.

           

Robert Cooperman's latest collection is Go Play Outside (Apprentice House).  Forthcoming from Kelsay Books is A Nightmare on Horseback.