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?”
Category: Bill’s Life and Thoughts
#I (from Bill’s masters thesis, EMPORERS AND TAILORS)
“We’re in repose,” you said,
“The violent are turning upon the violent
and generations sit in the middle
staring out into the night
though it exists, but
within a garden of iron flowers.”
I wish to ask, are they rusty? but refrain
answering your observation,
How different are the sunsets
when you are facing east!
Your eyes staring at the ivy
digging into the mortar,
Reality gets thrown into the superman,
commercials into the tired plots of television.
During this winter of’77 when
the gas and fuel suddenly stopped
and routines became as active
as the mouse sliding through the snake,
What else is there to do but repose,
either that or freeze –.
Dreams create complacency
as we become the super-cop who solves
all crimes of passion —
we are the passion
passive in our character masks,
and our transparent underwear
which we put on — take off
in private.
Bill’s Poetry: Rising
Throughout Bill’s adult life he wrote poetry. Within this section on Bill’s life and thoughts, his poetry will be published. The first selection of poetry, ‘Rising’ is from his book, I Do – Poems from a Marriage.
I remember the Milwaukee River
and the song rising from its bank
as an exhausted man sighing.
So many trips we took
to save the song from drowning,
then use the song for
something private.
As a phoenix entwined
we came out as one,
now return
stare down into the shallows,
an eight inch goldfish
resting in a tire
something we glance at
then ignore.
The river is surviving;
we’ve come to watch,
participate.
March 28, 2016
On March 28th, 2016, Bill Bergstrom passed away. He had been in a local hospital at the time. At about 9:15 on the evening before Bill was to have returned home, he collapsed. After numerous efforts to resuscitate Bill failed, he was pronounced dead of heart failure. Bill’s obituary is below.
Bill Bergstrom died unexpectedly on March 28th. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, children Sam and Sarah, and brothers Thomas, Robin, and Jeffrey.
He received a Master’s degree in creative writing from UW-Milwaukee. Bill worked for the Parking and Transit Department at UW-Milwaukee for 33 years. Though retired, he continued to regard his colleagues fondly.
Bill was a devoted husband and father. He was also a poet and novelist. This talent with words did not stop him delighting in terrible puns. He also told bad jokes and steadfastly refused to sing on key. For these and so many other reasons, he will be deeply missed.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, April 6th at Gesu Church, 1145 W Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee. Visitation will begin at 9:00 am, with a mass at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Bill’s name to Gesu Church would be greatly appreciated.