Box the Refrigerator Came In
We played with the box the refrigerator came in
and made it into a fort
the heat in the alley made us tired
as we camped in our enclosure
and made us think of other hot places
like Africa
so we imagined the box was a refrigerator
transported somewhere near the Sahara
plopped down to be discovered
by this band of nomads
who didn’t know what to do with it
one said to put it on trial then shoot it
another said to sell it to the Somali pirates
and another said to take it to the rebel leader
in his stronghold
so I told everyone the box must be moved
and Jackie Reitberger dropped out saying
‘It was too hot’
and we met the rebel leader Mustafa
who laughed at our refrigerator
and said it was a good place
to store the blood of the government soldiers
and on hearing that, Merilee dropped out too
then Mustafa ordered the refrigerator
to be brought to his tent
but Pat Olson would not help me
so I struggled with it alone in the alley
and it was heavy
from some wood on the bottom
my silence made Mustafa angry
and when I looked up there was a man in a pickup truck
a swarthy man looking for stuff people threw out
and on seeing the box he said
‘A new refrigerator came in that box, didn’t it?
it’s not a box, it’s a fort I said
He smiled and said ‘Are you throwing out the old refrigerator?’
I said no, my dad is keeping it safe
in the garage, where he keeps his beer now
and I opened the garage door
where my dad sat
drinking a cool one
and when my Dad saw the garbage man
a large mustachioed fellow with a face the color of a copper mountain
he opened up the old refrigerator door
offered him a beer
the ruddy man eyed the old fridge
settled for the aluminum
aluminum-mined as bauxite, smelted far away, shipped here, now scrap
that once contained spirits
Paul Smith is a civil engineer who has worked in the construction racket for many years. He has traveled all over the place and met lots of people. Some have enriched his life. Others made him wish he or they were all dead. He likes writing poetry and fiction. He also likes Newcastle Brown Ale. If you see him, buy him one. His poetry and fiction have been published in Convergence, Missouri Review, Literary Orphans and other lit mags.