Culture & Media
Maintenance Engineer Part Time

after the long day’s hustle, Papa returned
home waving fistfuls of Tootsie Rolls, wolfed down
his supper, changed from his suit into his long-sleeved
gray coveralls or blue cotton smock and slid out of
silky stockings and Italian leather loafers into white
cotton socks and well-scuffed All-American work shoes
for his night shift scrubbing and waxing corporation floors
we missed his loud full laughter
around the television and what company we had
wasn’t as interesting as the visitors
who came through when he hung around home
but we trusted Papa was doing his best
to become “healthy, wealthy and wise”
without shame over shameful wages—enough
indian head nickels to finance a scheme
(the men he worked graveyard with
always became buddies
and no matter whose car broke down,
there was always a ride to or from home
or a spot until pay day)
one night Mama had an emergency. she
bundled us into a cab and took us down to
the building and knocked on the glass until
Papa opened the door. he carried us inside where,
in jammies, robes, and slippers, we
curled up in blankets on a mahogany desk
in that giant office. then we watched Papa run
the long dustbroom across the black-and-white
squares of linoleum, our lids drooping to
a close as he rolled in a giant pail of
hot sudsy water and began to sling the
industrial mop, singing low Old Man River
at sunrise, we woke as he deposited us, one
child to a shoulder, onto the back seat
of the Pontiac for our dreamlike journey home
but first stop—sinkers, hot chocolate and smiles
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Source: Bathwater Wine, published by Black Sparrow Books (1998)
Award-winning poet, essayist and fiction writer Wanda Coleman was born and raised in Watts. She’s written 15 books of poetry and fiction.
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Five Poems the Next Mayor Should Read
These poems by some of L.A.’s finest poets are intended to help Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti look closely at our city and listen with care to its diverse voices, from janitors to sidewalk fruit sellers to donut shop insomniacs. They are also an antidote to the platitudes of the campaign trail, and a reminder that the best political speech—and acts—can tap into people’s deepest emotions and aspirations.
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