Frank Fanello Played Guitar
written by: John Grochalski
@JohnGrochalski
like clockwork
every time us kids
came out onto the cul de sac
with a wiffle ball and bat
or a nerf football
frank fanello played guitar
he brought out his black electric
with a portable amp
and an extension cord
that he plugged into a jack in his garage
then frank stood there on his driveway
in front of his big, blue station wagon
playing
led zeppelin
jimi hendrix
the star-spangled banner over and over
he kept our wiffle balls
if they went into his yard
held them for us to see who’d try and grab it
frank called us punks and wimps
tossed the balls into his garage
and went back to playing clapton
older neighbors said he was crazy
rumor had it that frank killed
his girlfriend’s dog back in the 60’s
he once told us kids
that he used to drop children out of airplanes
back in vietnam
frank was a noted draft dodger
one time
he chased his wife
around their yard
with a steak knife
frank grabbed her
and put the knife in her hands
and yelled, do it, go ahead and do it, you coward
that was a crazy memorial day weekend
crazy like how
frank fanello played guitar
every time we played ball
how he stood there on his driveway
back arched and knees bent
like he was playing guitar
in madison square garden
instead of on a dead-end street
in the pittsburgh suburbs
antagonizing a bunch of kids
because he had nothing better to do
kids who hated him
who hated his guitar
kids who’d let frank know
just how much he was despised
on those nights
when the sun went down
and the street got quiet
when frank fanello
was so tired from playing guitar
that he forgot
to put his big, blue station wagon
back inside the garage.
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