ROOT BOY SLIM

Slim was fat
Obese is more accurate
He said he was a mean lean machine
When he played football for Yale
Twenty-five years ago
Aging gracefully
Did not apply to Slim
People who came by the house to visit
Commented on his condition
“You should drink a quart of orange juice every morning”
“Like my wife and me”
One Root Boy fan remarked
Slim stared at him with disgust
Dare to be fat
Was his mantra
Coffee and donuts
In the morning
Pizza around noon
Power nap afterward
Chinese food
Delivered to our doorstep in the early evening
Foster McKenzie drank Black Label and smoked Reds
All day long
He lived fast
And died in his sleep
A heart attack
At forty-six
The music magazines called him a hero in eulogy
The “Godfather of Puke”
I just thought he was lazy
And fat

ROOT BOY SLIM by Lawrence McDonald