Peter Newton
College Boy
I was headed back to Ann Arbor in the fall. The shelter job gave me book fees and pocket money. Most of the guests were run-of-the-mill folks just down on their luck. More drifters than druggies. But life on the street takes a toll.
Rich was always going places. Once, he ionized water on Mars. He could tell you the exact chemical compounds needed to survive there but then he’d have to kill you.
Carol wouldn’t touch money and wore white gloves, like she must’ve in the 50s. She was big into the Bible and how her white gloves kept her pure, in case she ever 100% had to touch so much as a quarter.
Eric was closer to my age and epileptic, prone to seizures, even with his meds that he took whenever he thought about it. He knew anything was possible and carried a thick wooden tongue depressor so he wouldn’t bite off his tongue.
Tink liked to drink. “My name is Tink, I like to drink” is usually how he introduced himself. An affable old salt who could spin a tale better than watching any dumb sitcom. Most nights in summer he couldn’t come in because he was a danger to himself or others. He’d sleep it off down at the beach. Maybe shuffle by late to see if there was a free bed. I always let him in. He was an early riser. Up and out. I’d spray down the vinyl couch in the common area with the lemon disinfectant. No harm, no foul.
Until the day in late August I disappeared. No goodbyes or see-ya-laters. No more adventures on Mars, or white gloves folded neatly each night. No more bracing the man biting down on wood, his body seizing for what seemed like an hour before the ambulance showed up. A few years later, I heard Tink died one night down at the beach. He had made himself a little home under one of the fisherman’s skiffs hauled up on sawhorses, and fell asleep for the night. It was January.
a wood snake
curled on its warming stone
my 60th year
About the Author
Peter Newton is the author of several books in the Japanese short form traditions of haiku, haibun, and tan renga. His newest book of haiku, Glide Path (Red Moon Press, 2022), won second place in the 2023 Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards. His most recent collection of haibun is Part-Time Gods (Snapshot Press, 2022).
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