Betty and Lawrence

[KaliTracy]

Whenever these two old strangers come
into this restaurant, people sit back,
cowering in their booth, staring;
then they turn away from these two strangers
embarrassed, outraged,
or just plain sick and tired.

Betty and Lawrence introduce themselves.
They never stop talking.
Before and after the waitress comes, they talk.
Even during the order, digressions take place

Do you mind if we call you ORKY
the pig?

the waitress doesn't reply, she just laughs,
turns away before they finish giving her
the order.

Slaw too! We want slaw! Hey -- we want slaw!
She doesn't hear them.

Their booth is across the aisle from mine.
What's your name? he asks me. He tells
me again, I'm Lawrence and this is Betty.

I nod...Susan. I lie. I try to get
back to my food.

Hey, what is that, what are you eating? How
much does that cost? Can we get that next time?

I guess so, it's pretty inexpensive.

Does it come with slaw?

I try to ignore them and to finish
my lunch, but he raises his voice a little
looks at me and asks, HEY. HEY! Do you like
to have fun -- Hey, do you like to have fun, or
do you get mad?

I -- I like to have fun.

Can we call you ORKY the pig? We've got a pig
at home, she's got a plastic pig, we named it
ORKY. Do you like to have fun, or do you get mad?

So, I'm Orky the pig,
although they never call me that.

The waitress brings the hamburgers and fries--
without slaw. How much is it, we only have eight
dollars, Betty says. Is that enough?

As the waitress rushes away to find the total
Lawrence almost yells, Slaw! We want slaw, hey
waitress, we need slaw!

Flustered, Jeanie brings the slaw and starts
to tell them the total, but finds she has to re-figure
the slaw -- she comes back and tells them with the slaw
it's over eight dollars. Take it away then -- OK?
We only have eight dollars, he says, I didn't know
it cost so much to eat out.

He turns back to me, Hey Sharon, those
are jumpers they're wearing, hey Sally, those are
jumpers, right?

Betty turns to me and almost
whispers
You've Got to have Fun.
nodding, I understand -- slightly.
She continues,

Sometimes, I'm outside
and I giggle. A person has to giggle.

But even with the wise words, I turn my
back toward them so I can now do my schoolwork.
They continue talking. I look around a little,
and the man in back of my booth is
staring straight ahead, ignoring them too.

I'm working on a poem
and it's not gelling
so I try to let my mind float.

They finally get up to leave.

Tell Orky the pig I said hi, I say.

You either laugh or you cry --
and Hell,

you've got to have fun.



tlm
spring 1986

(Formating is a little different here than it would normally be)

[Generic Other]

1. They remind me of this couple named George and Pansy

who crashed weddings and funerals in Seattle for years.

Touched in the head...:)

[KaliTracy]

6. I think Lawrence was on his way, and Betty tried to smooth things

over with people. I love reading this poem allowed, because I still can hear his voice -- "Hey, do you like to have fun, or do you get mad..." --

I took this at the time to mean that too many people tried to make him conform in ways he couldn't anymore -- and that he was aware enough that his behavior made people upset.

[Droopy]

2. A very original and unique piece of work

Nicely done. Were Betty and Lawrence based on real people or are they totally fictional?

[KaliTracy]

3. this was an actual occurrence -- the only change I made to that encounter

was to cut the dialog -- they talked about a lot of things, (including using napkins as TP) but it kind of got overwhelming for the poem.

[Droopy]

4. Cool

You never know where you are going to find a poem.

[KaliTracy]

5. yeah, when I was younger I hung out at the restaurant I worked at --

I did a lot of writing at 24 hour places, and some coffee shops.... been Quite awhile since I've written like that.




poems do seem to hide in the darndest places....

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. reminds me of

of an elderly couple that used to go to a resturaunt my friends and I would gather at after work


She would dothe ordering

she would invariably order a piece od sugar cream pie for him

man: I do not like sugar cream pie

woman :yes you do

and it would go on and on like that

until the old man gave in and ate the damn pie

muttering all the while about his dislike of sugar cream pie


while the old woman sat there Looking triumphant

[Steel City Slim]

8. I Read This Every Time I Come To The Poetry Group

and I still don't know what to make of it. I feel sorry for Betty and Lawrence, they must be lonely.

[KaliTracy]

9. i think i would have written a different poem now (at almost 40) than I

did then (at almost 20). Yet maybe not.

He was definitely on the edges of losing reality -- she seemed to be holding things together. They had nothing but themselves, really.

[oneighty]

10. In our village

there are several homes for those lost souls that can barely function in society.

Kali you have described some of them.

It is so sad that some people laugh at them instead of with them.

180

[KaliTracy]

12. i agree... I remember hearing about a home for people with Alzhiemer's

disease that works on the residents' level -- there are place markers of familar items on doors, in rooms, to help them get to their room or around in their room -- the kitchen is open 24 hours, so if they think it's time for lunch at 10:00pm, they are given lunch (within reason, of course) -- the point being, that they aren't continually told NoNoNoNoNoNo..... there is some latitude in their final days of exisitance.

[pinerow]

11. Sounds like the IHOP in Miami Beach in the early seventies...lol

I beliieve I may have been in the same diner...

[Steel City Slim]

13. Nicely Done

I think you captured their "outsideness" very well. Their longing to be accepted, their familiarity with being rejected in that search for acceptance. I think the reason I kept leaving the poem without fully digesting it is because you projected the uncomfortableness so well. Outstanding!

[EFerrari]

14. This is fascinating for me because I "smooth things over", too

but have never written about it in this way. Actually, that's not true. Here are two short Betty moments, written when my hubby was still very ill:

No Fear

He collects talismans
tokens to carry through daily tunnels;
he takes a long time to face the flood
of the world washing over him without bounds or reason --

His No Fear gear
his new hair cut
his watch, coat, umbrella
his reasons for coming and going

recollected anew every day.

I don't do better
but mostly watch.

"No Fear" is a tall order
and we're mostly horizontal here
from the gravity of it
all at once.

ef/2001

The Waiting

Waiting makes the room smaller
the windows darker.

You're out of bed eons later
as the waiting gets longer, wider
harder to hold.

I wait for you like seeds wait
for water and

I should wait like trees
wait for birds.

ef/2001