Book of Don I

Don asked Delaney
when the dust from dinner passed,
"Where did you get this?
The straw hat my uncle wore
was the only one he made."

Delaney answered,
"Can you drive my car, young man?
I've had too much wine."
Don Yoji hesitated.
He said, "I have no I.D.
The truth is, I am no one."

Mary followed them.
She spoke with Rose on the phone,
"Yes, I missed my flight.
I was almost robbed, you know!"
Sage saved her from the lecture.

"Rose," she said, "It's Sage.
You have no reason to fear.
Mary can stay here
while my father clears this up.
I promise, she will be safe."

Parsley's mouth was full—
his words fumbled from his mouth,
"When's your birthday, Don?"
Mary translated for him,
"Do you know when you were born?"

Don said, "That I know.
It was the first day of fall
after the riot."
Delaney asked, "What riot?"
Don said, "The straw hat riot."

Mary said to him,
"That was 1922.
That's not possible."
Delaney started to laugh,
"I found that hat in my trunk.

It has been there since
the first day I drove this car
in 1980.
"I was told not to move it
until someone needed it."

R.L.P. Auriga

Hempstead, New York