Poems by Joe Fusco Jr.

Joe has a new CD entitled "How Ya Doin'"? Check back soon for ordering info!

Joe Fusco Jr. has been a "feature" poet across the great state of Massachusetts:

They were taken on a rainy Monday night from a locker at the Greendale YMCA while I was working out.

In his haste, the kidnapper left behind my video rental card, four one-dollar bills, a fine Timex watch, and a book of poetry by Raymond Carver.

Within the hour, my Visa was forced to purchase $2600 at Best Buy and my sweet little Mastercard $1300 at Marshall’s.

Somewhere in the greater Worcester area, there’s a son of a bitch with poor fashion-sense watching plasma T.V. with my plastic babies.

When I called the credit card companies to report the abduction, they asked me the Ultimate security question to access my accounts: "What’s your mother’s maiden name."

"It starts with a ‘D’, Mr. Fusco...Ends in an ‘L’...Double ‘L’...Four letters...Rhymes with ‘Ball’"

Instructed to cut up my wife’s duplicate cards, we were heart broken that two more innocents were brutalized by this tragic event.

The policeman who filed my report mentioned that his own house was broken into earlier that week but everything was recovered except for one of his uniforms.

Paranoia immediately seized me and I prayed that I hadn’t let a "fake cop" into my home to try to kidnap my remaining Discover card.

It’s been four days now since the abduction. I open my wallet constantly and stare at the empty spaces like Charles Lindbergh checking his child’s bedroom.

"Bling! Bling!"

I should’ve known it was a trap. My daughter inviting me to the mall to look at her prospective wedding-ring. My future son-in-law good friends with the young bespectacled jeweler. My wife gazing lovingly at the diamond Anniversary ring suddenly the Bargain of the Century at $3,000.

"Look how it shines, Dad!"

"That’s a great deal he’s giving you, Mr. Fusco."

"Look how it shines, oh loving husband of mine!"

"Bling! Bling!...Bling! Bling!"

I’m not a big jewelry guy. Wear my wedding ring and a Signet watch. No gold chains or bracelets or pinky-finger decor. A stainless steel toe-ring when I wear sandals and feel a little "metro-sexual" in the summer.

A $3,000 Bling! Bling! doesn’t seem like the Bargain of the Century to me. We could replace 8 1/2 windows on the second floor of the house, buy a Celtics’ 20-game ticket-pack, trade our shitty van in for a less shitty model.

On the other hand (her hand actually), my wife really loves the ring. We had to go chintzy 20 years ago when money was tight. We’ve raised six children together and she’s the best friend/lover/soulmate in the world.

I pull the Visa from my wallet like a reluctant gunman.

"It comes with a written guarantee," my new best friend the jeweler explains.

"It better read- Unlimited sex for 5 years. I pick the times, places, and orifices." I smile lovingly then hold my wife’s hand to the light.

"Bling! Bling!...Bling! Bling!"

The barren branches of the city’s trees look morbid in their white shrouds.

I ruin a pair of socks every time I walk down the front steps to get the morning paper.

The snow-flurries predicted by the exuberant meteorologist are measured by a yardstick.

Spring is just around the corner but it’s the longest goddamn block in New England.

Then, summer follows with its scorched earth, endless highway construction, and crowded city pools.

"The Great Depression"
"Death and Other Happy Endings"
"Poems I Don't Read at Barnes & Noble"
"Yogurt."
"Distractions" NEW! ($7.00 plus shipping)

Just send a check (orders will be held until checks clear) or money order for $5.00 plus $1.00 S&H for each chapbook (payable to Joe Fusco Jr.) to:

To receive your chapbook(s) as quickly as possible, e-mail your order to Joe at CandJFusco@aol.com. Please include your name and address, which book(s) you are ordering and in what quantity. Your order will be sent as soon as payment is received. You may also e-mail any questions you may have.