that old blue Chevy

my father

would never buy a Japanese

car

because of the war.

that whole

Pearl Harbor thing,

or a German car.

damn krauts

he'd say

with a beer in his hand,

waving a cigarette

around

from his easy chair.

of course his blue

Chevy Impala was

on the back of a tow

truck more than it was on

the road.

i never once visited him

when the hood

wasn't up

and he was lying under

the engine

with a wrench.

he never gave in.