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sutler 149 Barton Sutter The Snowman This is a poem for Tom. This is a poem for Tom Blair. This is a poem for him And for all of the men on the edge Of their beds in their underwear, Wondering what they're doing there. This is a poem for them. For all of the good providers. The place of the poem is Chicago. The time of the poem is the great snow Of nineteen hundred and seventy-nine. In 79 it snowed so that People fought over parking spots. Arms were twisted, headlights busted. And all because of the snow. Not that I blame the snow. TSk), the snow was only the weather. I'm talking about something else altogether. Thomas Blair drove a plow, And because of the snow in '79 He worked a lot of overtime. Not that I blame the snow. But because of the snow The work was there, And there was the wife and kid, A blizzard of debts, and so The food of the poem is coffee, Coffee and cigarettes. Tom went to work, And he worked and worked, With little time off, And he worked and worked, And one day, Tom, He went berserk. He forgot all about the snow ISO the minnesota review And started plowing up cars, And some had people in them, And some of the people died. Can you see the blue lights of his truck? The cherrytops of the cops? He wrecked forty cars with the plow Before they got him stopped, And when they could hear What the screaming said, You know what the screaming said? "I hate my job\ I want to see my kidl I hate my goddamnedjob\" So that's it. That's the poem. What do you think? What do you think it's all about? It's not about the snow So much as . . . Ill tell you What it's about. This is a poem for Tom. This is a poem for Tom Blair. This is a poem for him And for all of the men on the edge Of their beds in their underwear, Wondering what they're doing there. This is a poem for them. For all of the good providers. ...

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