Pearle M. Olsen ~ Author of "Frame the Laced Moments" ~ published in 1978

Pearle is also the author of "Nickels From A Sheep's Back" ~ the Biography of her father John K. Madsen.  Pearle passed away in 1985

From " Frame the Laced Moments", Pearl Remembers the Candy Shop of Pete Poker:

THE CANDY MAN


He was a frugal man with words,
Yet liberal with time he spent in his shop,
A tiny niche in the sidewalk-front
Of the green frame opera house.
Small as it was there was plenty of room
For a long showcase of penny-goods.


There Pete Poker waited, short and balding:
Peter Jensen was his real name
And I thought Pointer would have been
A better nickname than Poker.
His cushioned armchair near a monkey stove
Revealed long years of waiting-wear.
A wire-handled fly swatter
Was a part of Pete's right hand,
As much belonging to him as fingers.


His left hand patiently opened the glass case
At noon, recess, and after school
When children shoved across the street to point,
Chanting "one of these" and "one of those."
And Pete pointed from his side to be sure
As years multiplied...

The poem "The Candy Man" and  "The Author" Pearle Madsen Olsen are posted here with the permission of John K. Olsen, a son.