MARCO POLO 

	HAD BEEN IN AMERICA

FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS

	HAVING COME HERE FROM

THE PHILIPPINES

HE WAS THE ODD ONE IN THE FAMILY

	BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY 

ONE NOT NAMED AFTER A BIBLICAL FIGURE

	LIKE HIS SISTER JUDITH

OF HIS BROTHER SOLOMON

	AND WAS THE TYPE OF BROTHER

WHO LIKED TO DO THINGS WITHOUT HIS BROTHERS

	OR SISTERS

AND IF HE DID DO ANYTHING WITH THEM

	HE WAS USUSALLY THE OND DRIVING 

AND HE EITHER CONSCIOULY OR SUBCONSCIOUSLY

	MADE IT A POINT TO RIDE THE BRAKES OF 

THE CAR

	UNTIL SOMEBODY THREW UP

HE GOT A JOB

	THROUGH HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW

AT A RESTAURANT

	AS A BUSBOY

THE TIPS WERE GOOD

	AND HE ALWAYS ATE WELL

"NEW YORK STEAK AND EGGS"

	HE'D SAY WHEN ASKED WHAT HE WANTED

FOR BREAKFAST

BUT AFTER A WHILE

	THE COOKS THOUGHT HE WAS TAKING ADVANTAGE

OF THE SITUATION AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW HAD TO PULL

	HIM ASIDE AND TELL HIM TO STOP ORDERING 

NEW YORK STEAK AND EGGS SO MUCH

AND SOMETIMES

	HE'D BE CAUGHT DOING NOTHING

WHEN IT WAS SLOW

SO AGAIN--HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW TOLD HIM

	"WHEN IT'S SLOW, GO TO THE TOILET AND PRETEND

YOU’RE TAKING A SHIT

	THEN YOU CAN HAVE YOUR BREAK

AND NO ONE WILL KNOW"

SO MARCO POLO

	DID WHAT HE WAS TOLD

BUT THEY FORGOT TO TELL HIUM

	NOT TO FALL ASLEEP IN THE STALL

		HE GOT AWAY WITH A WARINING

MEANWHILE, HIS FATHER CAME FOR A 

	VISIT FROM THE PHILIPPINES

TOLD HIM HE HAD

	A LOW CLASS JOB

THAT HE SHOULD WORK IN AN OFFICE INSTEAD

SO MARCO POLO QUIT

	AND GOT A JOB FILING AND LIGHT TYPING

FOR SIX DOLLARS AN HOUR

NO MORE NEW YORK STEAK AND EGGS

	NO MORE BREAKS IN THE BATHROOM STALL

AND NO MORE TIPS

BY THE WAY

	HE STILL DOES THINGS

MOSTLY ALONE

IS STILL A LOUSY DRIVER

AND STILL HAS THE NAME

	OF AN EXPLORER

RATHER THAN

	A BIBLICAL FIGURE

"untitled"
Rec. 5/15/97 inside the Quiet Storm, sf...1845.