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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2015)
Street Roots • February 13-19, 2015 Street Poetry Page 13 Long Live Mr. King by John R. Brown Let’s call him Mr. King We’ll change his name to protect the privacy of this prince J among the homeless. He told me he entered the service right after Korea and got out just before Vietnam Timing is everything. Frugal with his V.A. benefits, generous with his food stamps, It was a joy to share with him baseball on the radio. “Your reliever should walk in a run,” Mr. King told me, Just before the grand Slam knocked my Tigers out of the playoffs. A baseball scholar, a student of the game. Yes, he drank too much, No, he did not always eat right, And true, he slept in a loading dock, Sometimes without even a blanket As he approached his 70th birthday. When I saw him late last winter at the hospitality center, . Clearly there were problems. Shivering, unfocused, skinny as a smoke, His face as pale as his square, white beard. And then, no sightings of Mr. King. None at all. How sad it was to hear the details of his passing! They said he collapsed at the Jack In the Box, Was rushed to the Veterans’ Hospital, Was saved by the medical staff. I heard he was housed in Vancouver, And that social workers had gotten him his checks, And when the first money came in, . They told me Mr. King went out and drank himself to death. How sad to hear the excruciating details! : And how wrong to believe them! How great to see Mr. King on the numher twelve bus Frail, bald, a little unsteady but still breathing. “My God!” I exclaimed, “I heard you were — “I know, I know,” Mr. King smiled, “It was touch and go there for a while. Hey, your Tigers lost their Cÿ Young winner.” Touch and go! but not gone, Still a baseball scholar, still a student of the game. Timing is everything. by Alfred Lippincott B etter h e a lth | here for you Delivering physieat'. be.hayqrial health and CENTRAL CITY Transition Projects np One believes should have to be homeless. ft 1 ? i i l l Ending homelessness and achieving self-sufficiency. Now roasting & distributing craft coffee. Available for purchase at: Chuck's Produce. Food Front Cooperative Grocery Green Zebra Grocery New Seasons Market Whole Foods Market dental health care for dyer 230,000 children, families and individuals on the Oregon Health Plan in'the Portland Tri-County area, Together we are health www.healthshareoregon.org Transition^ Projects 1 jj 650 NW Irving S t Portland, OR 97209 503.280.4700 www.tprojects.org Soon avcdlalbe for on-line purchase! For office coffee service, call our friends a t Percosso Coffee, 503-460-3861 www.centralcitYconcern.org iacebook.com/CentralCityCoffee
