#IV (from Bill’s masters thesis EMPERORS AND TAILORS)

Marvin claims the bad weather is due to deodorant,
“Consider the evidence,” he said, waiving a thermos at me.
“Is that coffee in there?”
I look at it longingly.
“They destroy the ozone. We’ll not only
get cancer, but
we’re going to lose all our air. You can bet on it!”
I resolve myself to the fact
he will only wave the coffee
and never drink.
“Why shouldn’t man smell the way nature intended him to?”
“You mean you don’t use deodorant?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He pulls a banana from his lunch box.
“I still have to live with my peers.
But I saw this news show on television which
showed this fat guy
without any hair.”
Marvin has been married to Sherry for three months now.
He’s still making his own lunch: banana, dill pickle,
peanut butter filled crackers and coffee.
Something is missing on his left hand.
“What happened to your wedding ring? You wore one didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Lost it. Tried to get a chicken bone
out of the garbage disposal.
It fell off. Shouted at Sher, don’t hit the switch.
She hit the switch. But, let me tell you that fat guy,
he lost his hair because of skin cancer.
You want some coffee?”