David Lawrence

Pops

I stole a million dollars from the IRS
And they gave me two years.
Nice gift.
Good accommodations in the Poconos.
Canned ham from Desert Storm,
Dibs on the lower bunk
After a year.

I miss those days,
Communing with the junior mafia,
Discussing sales techniques
With drug dealers,
Computer crime with hackers.
A little old man,
Pops,
Was there on welfare fraud.
What was that?
A dollar ninety-eight cents crime?

At night
Pops couldn’t make it to the urinal
And would piss
On the floor.
One of the bikers wanted to stick his nose
In the puddle like a dog.
He didn’t.
I wasn’t looking for trouble.
If he did
What would I have done?
Punched the biker?
Or made fun of sweet, little old Pops barking?

David Lawrence went from a teaching job at a well-known college to Wall Street, where he became a millionaire, was convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison for two years. In his forties, he became the world’s oldest professional boxer, fighting at major venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. He has also produced and rapped on three albums. He currently teaches boxing in Brooklyn.