Big Olaf Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Gulf Avenue in a cluster of shops
The Mennonite ice-cream store
Has a small sign out front,
Nothing more.

Inside along one wall
Three tables with simple chairs
Across from the freezer.
Freezer's bare.

Man comes from back
Greats us like we were
One of his
Old customers, dear.

Starts conversation about
Freezer being out of commission
All ice cream
In box in the back for the duration.

What do we want?
Have to guess
Can't just point
At what's in the case.

Rosemary knows
What she wants,
We ask for the same
Ending doubts.

What size?
Prices are posted
With the Big Olaf
Costing three fifty.

Why not!

He brings out
Three tubs of ice-cream
Sits them on table
Behind the case wiped clean.

Begins to dip
Ice Cream
Frozen solid
It seems.

One dip of Chocolate
As a start,
Big dip of chocolate mint
On top of that.

Pure white vanilla
Nothing special
Except dip is
More than ample.

Vanilla carefully placed
And pushed down
On top of other two,
Disaster, without a sound.

The cone splits
A chunk falls away.
This just isn't
Big Olaf's day.

What to do?

Cone and all
Into the trash
And he begins anew
With a showman's flash.

This time dips
Are even larger than before
And the ice cream
Piled higher, even more.

It's done.

He explains to everyone
Freezer can only be
Repaired by someone
With a freezer specialty.

From Kansas
He'll be coming
Flown in special
At his summoning.

Wraps cone with
Another napkin
Hands it to Rosemary
Whose been patiently waiting.
.
Without waiting for us
She gains her seat
At the table
And begins on the ice cream treat.

Our cones are soon finished
Just like hers
And we join Rosemary
Who is half way through hers.

We are soon finished.

Some twenty minutes
Before
We had a large lunch
Drinks and more.

But somehow
She had saved a spot
For a Big Olaf.
The whole lot.

Rosemary weighs 90 pounds
Soaking wet or maybe
When filled with a Big Olah.
A bit more.

How such a small woman
Could eat
So much ice cream
Is a mystery to me.

We miss you Rosemary.