23 Whitewash Lane
By Mike Stevens
A Sergeant Shriek Poem
At long last, Sergeant Salacius Shriek’s long day
was through. Training raw, moronic recruits to keep the mistakes at bay
was a losing proposition, but in the fridge was a beer
with his name on it at 23 Whitewash Lane, plus a little T.V., near-
ly made up for the crap that was piled high
upon his plate at work; just why
he continued to do training work for the military,
was a mystery to him. “Is that you, Salacius? See
that lawn? It’s an embarrassment for all
the neighbors to see!” he heard from the hall
as he came though the door. “Do you think
you could haul your dead a** out there, instead of drink-
ing yourself into oblivion?” Oh crap, it
was the screech of his wife, Stella. Apparently, he was in deep s**t
again! He was instantly reminded of why,
and at this thought he gave a little sigh,
he was still training new recruits as a job,
it was still preferable to home, where he was called a lazy slob
by the sea hag he was married to,
besides, hate it or not, it was all he knew
how to do. “Get your butt up and get out in
the yard, before it gets too dark to see, you’ve been
slacking on doing anything around here;
Come on, finish, or put down that beer!” Fear
of what the sea hag would do next if he
failed to listen to her filled his heart; she
could be a monster; He got right
up, and dragged himself into the yard, out of her sight!
He didn’t feel much like mowing,
but to shut her up, he kept on going
Back and forth, the mower went,
while Salacius, in anger, sent
the machine over the grassy ground
At least the mower’s harsh sound
drowned out Stella’s whining
He was already not looking forward to dining
with her, for he wanted some peace
and quite, for the stress never ceased
at work, but at least it wasn’t like
here! Now that he was finished, there was a hike
in his blood pressure already!
He could hear her crowing anger; in a steady,
rising pitch, that he just couldn’t take any more!
He was going to the tavern; the only sound as he left was the slamming door!
| 
Email this Poetry
| 
Add to reading list
