The Ballad of Dominic Ierace

when my mother’s second marriage
dissolved she spoke mostly in dreams
we were grown, still she wanted
to take us to Disneyland
she wanted to buy a house
she wanted to keep us safe
after six years of mostly volatile
rarely easy peace

she was forty something
working two jobs
circling the drain

I was barely twenty
working two jobs
circling the drain

neither of us could
afford a house alone
she asked me to cosign

after the Jaggerz broke a massive
hit with the Rapper
Dominic Irace changed his name
had a few big hits regionally
with a band called The Cruisers
if you live in Pittsburgh
you hear Ah! Leah or
Love is Like a Rock
as regular as Stairway to Heaven

in the mid-nineties Irace
wrote mortgages
rock star life
confined to weekend warrior status

I recognized him
didn’t care
never star struck
not by rock stars
not by mortgage brokers
he’s professional, goofy
till my mom steps out

at the copy machine
his posture changes
he’s relating to me now
like he still wants to be remember
as king cool, copier light glows
green, he shakes his head
says it’s a bitch, man