Men of Moments (edit 1)

[71degrees]

He said he was
barbecuing chicken

My Mom would usually
chop them into stews
that would last

My Step-Dad
was working again
and on a good run-

wasting them
for one meal
was a statement

A man of moments

I grew up enough
to throw him down stairs
and out of houses

We ate vegetable stew
and listened to pastors

He lived in cars
and on concrete -

not like
the Volkswagen Rabbit
he wore flip flops
and corduroy shorts in
that cranked Boz Scaggs
and The Little River Band
when we met

When the garbage men found him
behind a dumpster
wearing his liver on his jacket
my Mom paced for answers

I listened
to Boz Scaggs
with Jim Beam

The understated is always best. And you do this well. He "said" he was BBQing chicken....love it. Indeed, a man of moments. Nice picture words throughout (e.g. cranked, paced, flip-flops, right down to the VW Rabbit). I would resist the temptation of using punctuation. I'd even delete the dashes at the end of the lines and go with a few strategically placed hyphens (flip-flop, out-of-house) to highlight the absurd. Agree you need a stronger word than "pastor." Not sure about the line ..."that would last" and what purpose it serves? Also, "houses?" Did you do this multiple times? How about, "down the stairs and out the house" Just a thought. With so few words, be sure of the ones you do use. Nice write. I'm there with you.