The Day Danno Died (i. m. James MacArthur)

The day Danno from Hawaii Five O died

it was 84 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny.

Somebody, not me, had found some shoes

of a fifties vintage

in Uyeda's Shoe Store in Puck's Ally

where boxes are stacked every which way.

The day Danno died somone in Hawai'i

had probably entered Masako's Candy & Gifts

which is on the ocean side of Beretania,

between Piikoi and Pensacola.

The day Danno died

a very old Hawaiian lady

came out of The Pill Box,

old Kaimuki drugstore,

in the parking lot

back of Happy Days

and the Big City Diner.

The day Danno died

some old senators

and heroes of Pearl Harbor

last surviving ones

cried. They knew Danno

had done a lot for these islands.

The day Danno died

someone's father entered

Harry's Music Store

and bought his son

a Ukelele.

At Smiley's Nails

someone mentioned in passing

that Danno had died.

Somehow, at Jimmy's

Television Sales & Services

the owner thought

TV will never be the same,

now that Danno's died.

The day Danno died

someone very young

saw and heard the ghost

in the Queen Theater say

My heart's an open book.

The ghost that never left.

Maybe Danno had raided it

and arrested the projectionist

after it went porno

in 1985.

We're all sad now,

now that Danno's died.

(Published in Tonto's Revenge, Copyright Adam Aitken, Tinfish Press 2011)