Because we all want to write more poems.
Who's There?
Dumb joke, like always,
This one a song parody
My patient son smiles his patient smile
He loves me, I know that
And he allows me my humor
He appreciates it for the clever
If not for the funny.
I am looking into a distorted mirror
The spitting image from one angle
From another, a man I never was
A strong silent type. the guy you
Want next to you when the shit goes down.
Where did he learn to stand up straight?
I try to crack him up with the same
Silliness I used when he was five.
It's really all I have. Again he smiles
Out of respect for a man who has been
Always there. He laughs only when I've already
cracked myself up, enjoying the pleasure on my face
Like you would a child with his first knock knock joke.
But I can't beat him. No giggle fits,
No spit takes, no shock value
His countenance remains serene.
I keep trying, I keep trying.
I think we both see what's coming,
Not this year or next, but someday.
My forgetfulness is surprising but mild
Compared to the day in the far future
When I will forget his name, my address,
When his serenity will be tested
Against my panic, my rage against the cruelty of
A life winding down. I'm afraid I won't
Go gently.
He will have to be patient
He will have to be strong
He will have to look into the distorted mirror
As he teaches me my first knock knock joke.
- Neil McKay's Shared Poems
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Comments
Neil McKay
March 14, 2012
Permalink
This is strictly an exercise
This is strictly an excercise. I anticipate I will be fully engaged and spouting clever jokes until my time is done here.
Clayton Medeiros
March 15, 2012
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I particularly like the first
I particularly like the first three stanzas. It feels like more than one poem perhaps. I look forward to more jokes.
Neil McKay
March 15, 2012
Permalink
Yeah, the end is sort of
Yeah, the end is sort of tacked on. But that's the way my mind went in the moment.