Title from Casper & the Cookies (MySpace)
The reason I didn't call you on your birthday
is that when you speak, the power of your voice
pounds the skin from my bones and
makes my teeth rattle like a firmly-flipped Franz
in a game of Guess Who.
But that power isn't mighty and bone-crushing
like Thor or Zeus or my grandfather.
It's calm and earnest,
almost as serene as the Sacandaga Reservoir,
like the expressionless tone in which I was told,
"Toby was hit by a Ford doing forty.
His ribs exploded and popped a tire.
You should've kept him on a leash."
Or maybe it's a stomach-turning sweetness
of snack time and lollipops and Mrs. Langley
who used to delight in telling 1st graders,
"You'll have to wait to use the bathroom!"
She stopped smiling after a liter of urine
found its way to the carpet during story time
and I had to see the nurse for a change of pants.
But I ended up being sent home early
because the nurse didn't have pants for husky boys
and I didn't call you on your birthday
because remembering how you sound
sends a chill through every layer of fat and loneliness
and fond childhood memories
from the time I was a husky boy.
The reason I didn't call you on your birthday
is that when you speak, the power of your voice
pounds the skin from my bones and
makes my teeth rattle like a firmly-flipped Franz
in a game of Guess Who.
But that power isn't mighty and bone-crushing
like Thor or Zeus or my grandfather.
It's calm and earnest,
almost as serene as the Sacandaga Reservoir,
like the expressionless tone in which I was told,
"Toby was hit by a Ford doing forty.
His ribs exploded and popped a tire.
You should've kept him on a leash."
Or maybe it's a stomach-turning sweetness
of snack time and lollipops and Mrs. Langley
who used to delight in telling 1st graders,
"You'll have to wait to use the bathroom!"
She stopped smiling after a liter of urine
found its way to the carpet during story time
and I had to see the nurse for a change of pants.
But I ended up being sent home early
because the nurse didn't have pants for husky boys
and I didn't call you on your birthday
because remembering how you sound
sends a chill through every layer of fat and loneliness
and fond childhood memories
from the time I was a husky boy.
2 comments:
I really like your reference to "guess who?" I like it all, but that was my favorite. I guess I just "get" your poetry. I'm usually not a big fan of poetry.
Well thank you. I'm glad you liked it. Especially if it's not the sort of thing you'd ordinarily like.
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