Fran’s Building

by John Rocco

A guy jumped out of Fran’s building

the 6th floor

3 floors above Fran’s place where

we play poker and drink.

The guy who jumped was

a loner. No one in the building

talked to the guy because they

thought he was a weirdo

and Fran turned out to be

the only one to talk to the guy

who was a recluse and fucked up

but he talked to Fran and two days

before he jumped Fran saw

him in an ambulance down

the block and had a dilemma:

stop and see him or meet the

band to jam but he stopped

and asked the guy if he needed

anything from his apartment.

The guy said no

thanks anyway

and that was the last

Fran thought of him

before he heard he

jumped early in the morning.

Also in Fran’s builidng

is

was

this WW2

Navy Captain

who had to order

hundreds of sailors

to their deaths

to save thousands of

other sailors

at Iwo Jima.

Fran plays chess with

the old guy

many games drinking

Anisette and the last

time the phone rang

and it was the Captain’s

nephew who told Fran

to tell the old guy to shave

in the morning because he

was going to take him to

the doctor but they were

really taking him to a hearing

to put him away in a home.

Fran didn’t tell him to shave

and they stayed up late

drinking Anisette and

playing chess.

I’m going over to Fran’s now

to drink in the middle of the day

and if the bricks could drink

in his building they would

and I’d give them a shot

but they can’t drink

but they can remember

because

architecture is alive

blood hard music

that we all live inside.