"Angie" (National Poetry Month poem-a-day) Day 24
Written by Bruce A.
Pandolfo
4/24/2017
Adam went to Philly to
play soccer as a pro,
on off-time he'd
wander, by overpasses he'd roam
Oft times he'd chat
with folks who hadn't had a home
He'd make sandwiches
he'd dole out to those he'd get to know
Met a guy Red Colt,
professorial, eloquent,
shopping cart of bags,
silver tongue of etiquette
Red Colt's girl Angie
started up with the expletives
then to Adam's shock,
Red Colt up and defended him!
Adam frequented the
benches and the bridges,
He'd come to love Red
Colt and his ornery missus,
He wished he could help
the folks others dismissed
then in March both the
vagrants vacated...went missing!
Around July 4th,
Homicide Detective Mangold
Discovers a body by the
river horrifically mangled
Someone dismantled it
to pieces and bagged those,
Hung them from branches
an immobile-mobile dangled.
The swamped department
couldn't identify the body,
Mangold solves
everything, but probably not this homi'
On his desk there's
Adam's name and number written,
Adam claims some
“Angie” character may just be the victim.
Detective questions the
homeless, disperses cards for business,
but they're defensive
'round the shield, clam up, tacit, timid
Desperate, decidedly
relying on Adam's altruism
the rep' he must've
mustered to drum up info 'round the bridges
Adam hit the ground
running in gumshoes, obsessive,
He called the precinct
daily, cops called him Junior Detective
Angie meant a lot to
him, determination impressive,
rarely took a break,
looked for breaks in the case connecting
Evidence collecting as
he spoke to Angies' exes
Seems she had an place
to live, it appeared she never left it
At this point, Adam
wasn't about to break into an apartment
So he let the Mangold
know and they went to get a warrant.
The city key smashed
the door, anticipated horrors,
More bizarre than
brutality, Angie was hoarder,
A lawnmower, postage
and papers forty years or more
And an odd supplement
odor reminiscent of drug stores.
The cops didn't have
time to root through the trash,
They left that all to
Adam to pursue the truth of Ang
He supposed the
corpses' clothes implied she was killed indoors
But the team shrugged
it off, said it'd look different of course
Adam felt like he'd
made no progress at all,
then a neighbor piped
up said she heard a fight through the wall,
Choking and screaming,
a domestic, wild, crazy
consistent with the
right date on Good Friday,
Adam's suspicion was
roused but now Red Colt was suspect,
Caused him ache and
unrest, especially cause he loved him.
He found a note among
the apartment's unkempt junk mess
confirming Red Colt was
the red handed culprit
They caught Red Colt
with his shopping cart full of cash,
Seems a family member
died and passed it down to Ang'
Adam can't believe the
stark good and evil in man,
Mangold says it'd be
unsolved if not for the soccer champ.
Mangold is retired,
Angie's cash went to her son,
Red Colt died of cancer
once imprisoned for what he'd done
Adam retired his
gumshoes and the cleats he carried,
Now he runs Philly food
pantries, an homage to fallen Angie.
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