LENNIE OKEY DOKEY

“My name is

Lennie Okey Dokey,”

he says.

Thatched white hair

small, old body

he talks to anyone and

anything

animate and inanimate

constant commentary

to a table top.

His bartender is

“a sweet guy,

his pal,

his best friend,”

he says.

In 1980

down in this little fishing village

he was christened.

in the bar.

And that was that!

“That drink looks

okey dokey”,

he says.

“I like my name”

he says to the young couple.

“How interesting”, they reply

as they politely exit.

“Friends of mine”,

he says.

Later, as we leave,

Lennie Okey Dokey is talking to

a red checked tablecloth.

The waiter is asleep,

the cook’s gone home.

We are brushed with sea spray

as we walk

arm in arm

along the blackened beach

stepping over flotsam

washed up by the waves.