On Jupiter Place. Nicholas Christopher

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      BOOKS BY NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER

      POETRY

      Crossing the Equator: New & Selected Poems, 1972-2004 (2004)

      Atomic Field: Two Poems (2000)

      The Creation of the Night Sky (1998)

      5° (1995)

      In the Year of the Comet (1992)

      Desperate Characters: A Novella in Verse (1988)

      A Short History of the Island of Butterflies (1986)

      On Tour With Rita (1982)

      FICTION

      Tiger Rag (2013)

      The Bestiary (2007)

      Franklin Flyer (2002)

      A Trip to the Stars (2000)

      Veronica (1996)

      The Soloist (1986)

      NONFICTION

      Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir & the American City (1997)

      FOR CHILDREN

      The True Adventures of Nicolò Zen (2014)

      EDITOR

      Walk on the Wild Side: Urban American Poetry Since 1975 (1994)

      Under 35: The New Generation of American Poets (1989)

      Copyright © 2016 by Nicholas Christopher

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

      Cover design by Kelly Winton

      Interior design by Megan Jones Design

      COUNTERPOINT

      2560 Ninth Street, Suite 318

      Berkeley, CA 94710

       www.counterpointpress.com

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      e-book ISBN 978-1-61902-757-2

       for Constance

      CONTENTS

1

ON JUPITER PLACE

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

      THE SECRET LIFE OF LOIS LANE

      MY FATHER CROSSED THE THIRD AVENUE BRIDGE

      A BUDDHIST MONK IN THE BUS STATION IN PROVIDENCE

      MOCKINGBIRDS

      THE SAILOR’S GRAVE ON THE PRAIRIE

      LOST NOTEBOOK

      AN ICON OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER ON THE ISLAND OF SYROS

      A NOVEL IN TEN CHAPTERS

      FROM THE S.S. MOROVIA RUN AGROUND OFF KAHALA BEACH

      MIDNIGHT

      GOLDEN APPLES

      AT THE END OF THAT LONG WINTER

      GREEN STAR

      THE HOUSE ON THE MARBLE CLIFF

      TWO STORIES THE BLIND MAN TOLD

      2

      14 RUE SERPENTINE #S 1–21

       1

       ON JUPITER PLACE

      After my mother was diagnosed

      with tuberculosis I lived

      in one of the identical

      brick houses on a long street

      with my grandfather who worked

      twelve-hour days six days a week

      and my grandmother

      who was too restless

      to stay home for long

      so that I was often left on my own

      at age four with plenty of time

      to meet the neighbors

      Mr. Porti the building inspector

      who died of a heart attack

      behind the wheel of his Plymouth

      and Mr. Cleary the Con Ed linesman

      with the Marine Corps tattoo

      who chainsmoked Camels

      and his beautiful daughter Nora

      the nurse in her crisp uniform

      who worked the night shift

      and walked home from the bus stop

      every morning at eight

      and his son Neal Jr. arrested

      in Chinatown with a truckload

      of stolen fireworks

      and four doors down

      Mrs. Kornstein whose husband

      was gassed at Auschwitz

      where she received

      a different sort of tattoo

      the jagged numerals on her wrist

      that she refused to remove

      and two doors down from her

      behind a wall of evergreens

      Mr. Boehringer the baker

      a Bund member during the war

      who spoke only German at home

      and told anyone willing to listen

      including his granddaughter

      Heidi with her blond pigtails

      that Franklin Roosevelt was a Jew

      in league with Stalin —

      Heidi who ate uncooked

      hot dogs without buns

      they tasted like bologna she said

      which was what the Lazzeri twins

      Vincent and Little Steve

      piled on Silvercup bread

      with no mustard or mayo

      their father Big Steve a mobster

      who every Christmas

      gave his wife a fur coat

      and on their tenth anniversary

      a two-tone Coupe de Ville

      that he washed and waxed

      on Sundays in their driveway

      next door