Der Aybershter means the Highest
I’m in the New York airport
Watching
I saw an African man eating Pringles
The Japanese men and their wives
Are all eating hot dogs wrapped in pretzel dough
They think this is the best thing they have ever eaten
I heard them thank Der Aybershter.
I listened to a man sitting next to me
Call a relative in New Jersey
He had recently moved to my town
He returned to New York for court
He received a year’s probation
It had to do with Rita ex-wife
And staying away from her.
I have to call my PO, he said.
He now lives in an apartment too small
For a table in the kitchen
But he likes it in my town,
He’s looking for a new girl —
I’m still young, he says, [he’s not so young]
You know what I mean?
It’s only a number.
He’ll keep his New Jersey license plates
Rita totaled his car
They took everything away from him
Der Aybershter? he said
Der Aybershter takes care of me.
You can always replace a car
I’ll work things out ‘cuz I have to.
The flight home was cancelled
Thunder storms
On television —
An earthquake killed twelve thousand
Half a world away.
A Rumanian woman sweeping up the airport
Der Aybershter, I heard her say
The world is cracked but Der Aybershter is
Solid.
jsg, usa