he got the love letter in Peru
and drove his motorcycle all the way to
Boston and when he got there
she told him she didn't mean it,
she was in love with an architect
a married man, and would he help her get him?
he said no, and walked the streets all day,
it got cold that night
and he found this motel
and the man looked at him through a little hole
in the door
and he said, all I've got is this room and it costs
eighteen dollars.
eighteen dollars? he asked
yes, said the man talking from the little hole,
if you want the room
pass me 18 dollars through this hole.
so, being weakened with afflictions,
he passed the 18 dollars through the hole.
and got the key and went up to the room,
it was a terrible room
but it had a bed
and he thought, maybe a night's sleep will help,
but he couldn't sleep,
it was the toilet, the toilet made so much noise,
so he went back to the man who stood behind the
hole in the door and he said,
I can't sleep, it's the toilet, the toilet is keeping
me awake, please fix it,
and the man said, the toilet is all right, go back to
your room and go to sleep,
and then the hole closed and all he could see
was the door and he beat on the door and the door
wouldn't open,
and he went outside and found two cases of empty
coke bottles by the vending machine and he began
throwing coke bottles
through the motel owner's window
and it was a large plate glass window
and the police came and grabbed him and took him away,
they put him in the madhouse and
he sat on the toilet and masturbated,
he stayed in the madhouse 19 days, masturbating
most of the time,
and when he got out
he got on his motorcycle
and drove all the way back to Peru
no longer in love with the lady who had written him
the letter from Boston.

© Frank Silvanski