PALEHOUSE

James Cox grew up in both the cities and countryside of Michigan where he learned wilderness survival and a variety of now useless urban skills such as driving fast through heavy traffic, tuning an 8 cylinder engine, and escaping street gangs. He received his Ph.D in Psychology from Cornell University during which time he was struck by lightning and entered an alternate reality. He developed x-ray vision. After practicing Psychology for 20 years in Upstate New York, he moved to Western North Carolina (1990) to work at the Cherokee Indian Hospital. He is now retired, writes terrific poetry and hikes in the mountains learning wildflower names in and around Whittier, NC.

Two-dimensional Man

In the late 1960’s,
satisfactorily employed
as a manager of a plastics
factory, business slogans
ballooning from his head,
haircut smooth and parted,
copying the appearance of
the no name models
in Sears catalogues
seated in upholstered
rocking chairs on braided rugs,
or nonchalant in form-fitting
white underwear,
or standing on golf courses,
or next to station wagons,
sometimes with Irish Setters near,
or beside a gas log fireplace
with braided rug before the hearth,
a stand-up cardboard cut out man
stood smiling, dressed in khaki slacks,
a sweater-vest and tie.
With comfort as his aim
and quiet self-denial,
he seemed to be living his life,
so pleased was he to be pleasing
his blonde ex-cheerleader wife.