poem: Kevin Coval

portrait of a slumlord

the slumlord is real.^$

a short man pulls into the affordable housing complex
his company built on greased government contracts.

row-homes. non-descript. grey, cheap looking. everything
in the area is tired. (except) the slumlord

drives a jew canoe, in the winter
wears fur. a diamond pinky ring.

the slumlord could be over-
taken by a pack of fat fifth graders

but at the end of a chain link leash
a german shepard^! named princess.

there is a small revolver in his waist belt
a sawed-off golf club beneath the driver’s seat.

the money is green. the renter’s Black.
the slumlord has a boat in Lake Winnipesaukee.

in a generation, the slumlord will not collect rent
himself. maybe send a son-in-law, a Mexican.

the slumlord gives to his synagogue, aipac, reagan’s
second term, directly to the idf. this isn’t considered terror-

ism. the slumlord hates Arabs, but has a Persian cat
who sits on his lap watching law & order.

the slumlord is napoleon short. the slumlord is my grandma’s
second husband. she is said to have married well.

the slumlord is a stupid man no one wants
to sit next to at dinner. the slum is israel

the slumlord is alive.



^$ based off the stories told by my grandma’s 2nd husband
^! (irony is lost on the slumlord)

KEVIN COVAL is the author of Everyday People, Slingshots (a hip-hop poetica), and the forthcoming L-vis Lives! (Fall 2011). Coval teaches at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, is co-founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival and Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors.