20160224 (ethnicity)

You have to understand I owe

A lot to the much disparaged

U. S. Postal Service. I still go

To my mailbox with an eager

Heart, hoping that there will 

Be some personalized note

Among the regular advertising

Mail, the sparkle-sharp political

Flashcards of campaigns, and the

Daily invitations to change my

TV, telephone, or cable service

Or to upgrade the one I have.

Andy sent me a postcard from

Winthrop WA where he was both

Skiing with the family and doing

A presentation on his unique 

Work with a robotic spinal surgical

Assistant. It was worth the cost

Of having a mailbox these seven

Years. Ordinarily the post is not

So rewarding. Today, for example,

I received my absentee ballot, a

Note from the bank that my 

Accounts have not been hacked 

During the last three months 

(Which they could have sent

By e-mail). and two glossy

Oversize postcards plunking

Two candidates which featured

Large color portraits of them

(As if we, being illiterate, vote

For faces on the ballot), the

March 2016 issue of Poetry

Magazine (which will likely be

As unread as the other four

Issues I have received), and 

My copy of ZGODA, the official

Publication of the Polish National

Alliance of the U. S of N. A.

For January/February/March 2016.

As a second generation Polack

I regarded my ethnic heritage

As a mark of foreignness with

Which I would rather do without—

Language, writing, the oddity

Of my forebears, their allegiance

To an “old country,” where things

Were even more foreign. I get this

Rag because my parents took out

An insurance policy from its

Fraternal organization when we 

Were infants. To them I am

Worth about two thousand 

Dollars but only dead, not alive.

When I was looking for a mortgage

To buy our first house the PNA

Was offering its members one of

The lowest rates in the city.

I went to their office to apply

And was asked, “Where?”

Cleveland Heights, Tullamore Road.

“We don’t loan for houses there.

It’s close to 50% black.” What 

Difference does that make? I asked.

“Prices slide in neighborhoods

Like that. You default and we

Won’t get our money back.”

Somewhat stunned by this 

Officer who made no attempt

To hide his Catholicity, I said,

“Your policy is racially biased—

That’s morally wrong.” He could

Care less. What about social 

Responsibility? The “society”

To which he was “responsible” 

Was the PNA, not the pope. 

As I headed out the door

He was yelling something about

How the poor of the world

Could just kill each other—he

Didn’t care.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016