The Kool Aid Drinkers & Other Poems

By Jack Henry Markowitz

With the publication of The Kool-Aid Drinkers & Other Poems the author
presents a collection of his more recently written poems. This new volume can be
viewed as a book end to his prior collected works which represents a collection of
some of his favorite poems that were written over a span of 40 years.
In his novella Stuff Happens author Jack Henry Markowitz combines elements
of fi ction and non fi ction in a new form he calls Friction - a combination of
the fi ctitious with the real. In The Practice and Other Stories he writes short stories
with satiric wit and Jewish humor about working class New York characters he
had observed during his growing-up years. With the publication of Bubbie and
Zadie Save the Day Markowitz retells a Romanian folk tale that his mother often
told to him and his siblings as a rather unusual bed time story
2005 The Practice and Other Stories
2008 Stuff Happens or My Life as a Monkey
2010 Bubbie and Zadie Save the Day
2011 Please Ask, Do Tell Collected Poems
2012 Pandoras Box New Collected Poems
2012 Last Call for New Poems
2013 The Kool-Aid Drinkers & Other Poems
The author resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he continues to work
and write. See links for more information: www.jhmcommunications.com; http://
jckmrkwtz.blogspot.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483692623

Jack Henry Markowitz

Jack Henry Markowitz, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in a magical time when Coney Island was still thought of as the entertainment capital of the world – a time when the Brooklyn Dodgers still played at Ebbets Field and millions of people came to visit the fabled beaches and boardwalk, Steeplechase Park, Parachute Jump, Cyclone Roller Coaster and Nathan’s Famous. During his undergraduate years at Hamilton College, Markowitz studied creative writing with Wallace Markfi eld (To An Early Grave, Teitlebaum’s Window) and with Alex Haley (Roots, The Autobiography of Malcolm X). Markowitz resides in Philadelphia where he continues to work and write. In this new volume of The Kool-Aid Drinkers & Other Poems the author presents a collection some of his more recent poems.

Book preview

A Jake In The Neighborhood

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In the course of my life

(to put food

on the table and

to keep a roof

over my head)

I have had to be

a jack of all trades

(only later in life

did I earn a

MSW degree)

I have worked as

an insurance salesman

driving instructor

social worker

fund raiser

public relations guru

writer

poet

part time musician

gas station attendant

sous chef

stock broker

taxi driver

state civil servant

city civil servant

book store clerk

waiter

bus boy

dish washer

bar tender

baby sitter

lawn mower helper

food store clerk

among other things

too numerous to mention

(and not necessarily

in the aforementioned order)

My work life

often took me

into neighborhoods

that were well outside

my comfort zone

but the nature

of the work

had me climbing stairs

in low income housing projects

and in areas of the city

where the police and firemen

feared to go

I have been in crack houses

looking for abandoned babies

rat infested tenements

slum housing of every

stripe and kind

I was one of those

intrepid warriors of the

working class

forced by necessity

to rush into circumstances

where angels have feared to tread

(I’m not bragging

just explaining)

Some how

(mostly by the

Grace of G-d)

I have managed

to survive it all

and to even have

been able

to have reached

the age of retirement

even though

I have had to go

to neighborhoods

(mostly in NYC and

Philadelphia)

where no white man or

white jew

had ever gone before

In short

I was and still am

(in many ways)

the proverbial

Neighborhood Jake

(a so-called Jake

is the street code word

for Jew)

Some of the neighborhood residents

would shout out the term

as a warning to their neighbors that a

Jake was in the area

either to sell them

things that they

didn’t want or need

(at shy lock prices)

or as a representative of

the Man

come to enforce

some law or regulation

that could lead to

state supervision or to

the removal of their children

(into foster care)

or even to their arrest

and incarceration

on various and sundry

and often

trumped up charges

Being the official

Neighborhood Jake

was a shitty job

(but as the proverb goes)

someone had to do it

jhmarkowitz

Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

A Pain In My Groin

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It hurts me

this pain

in my groin

this mysterious pain

that just

suddenly appeared

hot to the touch

painful to the touch

fine one day

lame the next

This mysterious pain

has hobbled me and

humbled me

I self medicate

but it refuses

to go away

I dragged my butt

to the MD finally

(after stalling for two weeks

in the hope the affliction

would heal of its own accord—

it did not)

So, Doc, what’s the verdict

I asked

after being physically examined

and poked and

made to turn my head

and cough

(flashback to my Army

induction days)

But the good doctor

just shrugged his shoulders

Dunno, he said

Not sure, he said

Could be this or

it could be that

What to do then

I asked

hoping that

Doctor Lee

had an inkling

as to how to proceed

It is a helpless feeling

standing naked

in the busy intake office

with dozens of other patients

waiting outside the door

for the good doctor’s attention

Let’s send you for

a CAT SCAN

at Jeannes Hospital and

see what they come up with there

then we’ll have a better idea

as to how to proceed

Reasonable

Logical

Practical

More time to waste

My guess is that it’s a hernia

this I gathered from

researching the internet

or it could be

something else

something much worse

I stop myself from

further speculation

I will wait my turn

and I will submit myself

to the modern age

of medical science

I will do as I am told

I will try to be less arrogant

and more humble

In the meantime

I self medicate

and wait

until the clock

ticks off the time

to my appointment time

And I try to go about

my business as usual

occupying my days

with the tedious

little chores

that make up my

orderly and routine

existence

tick tock

tick tock

TCOB

until it is

finally my turn

to ride the

silver gurney

It is not a ride

that I am looking

forward to

Stay tuned!

I will let you know

how it all turns out!

jhmarkowitz

Philadelphia, 2012

Alexis

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Alexis Kornfeld

was my make believe

girlfriend

when I was

a teenager in love

and living

in the coney island

low income projects

Alexis was a blond haired

blue eyed beauty

who lived in the building

down the block on

seaview avenue and

she made the whole

neighborhood look good

Guys from

other neighborhoods

would pull up

in the fancy

shiny new cars

(the ones with

all the chrome

and fancy fins)

and they would cruise

the boulevard

trying to pick up

the easy fun loving

girls from the projects

for a saturday night

of finger fucking fun

It was easy pickings

for these chicken hawks

who had only to flash

a little cash

and the promise

of a good time

and a night out

on the town

for the girls

in the angora sweaters

and skin tight

pedal pushers

to freshen up their

ruby red lipsticks

and perfumed

powders

before jumping

into the plush

leather seats of these

rolling casonavas

with their

slicked back hair