coming clean

[saw]

I came out of the closet today
finally told my family,
I write poetry
my mother briefly clutched her chest
dad said, " Do you believe those
lousy Yankees ?"
and it was over
no need for further discussion
and certainly not more details
after such a shocking confession
they would need time to catch
their collective breath, time
to process this startling revelation
these folks of mine
with no bookcases in this house
where I was raised, the parents
with no books

oh sure, there were a couple
of Zane Grey paperbacks tucked
in the corner of dad's wardrobe
but they were not book people
they were TV Guide people
could pretty near recite the weekly
shows like one might recite
The Gettysburg Address
and only liked american things
like sports and Miller Lite, they were
the elite of snowball stands
but books, particularly poetry books
were for weirdos and gay people
and people that didn't respect
the flag, shiftless protesters
troublemakers, muckrakers, and
goody-two-shoes

daddy once said, "writin' stuff ain't no job"
I think he meant career, he couldn't believe
there were actually people writing down
their "little rhymes" while he was fighting
" the god damned Germans" and no one
in our lineage had ever been a writer
or heaven forbid, a poet, they were all
workers that built this god damn country

so we nodded and pretended like always
acted though nothing was said, and mom
asked if I could stay for dinner, and dad
yelled from the other room, " that idiot
couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with
a baseball if his fucking life depended on it!"
and I said under my breath,
"nice to see you guys"
slipped out unnoticed

[the mingo]

Fuck yeah, Mongolia !

[saw]

thanx mingo...great photo........think I'll head for the woods today...let the dog jump in the water.......get my head clear.........

[the mingo]

the forest is a good place to do that

[patrick traveler]

Gave me a smile. I don't tell people I write poetry unless they are really GOOD friends!

[mnaz]

your poetry gets my mind wanderin' at times . . . there has been substantial enlightenment spread throughout the populace after the attempted ultimate power trip (and collective death wish) of the two world wars-- centuries of feudal / imperial warring at "our" expense for the wealthy high stakes gain / loss of a powerful few coming to a head-- an enlightenment unfortunately swamped under the crush of our own explosion of numbers and seduction of the hyper-corporate-consumerist extension of industrial revolution (which only exacerbates the resource crunch), and the ingrained compulsion or instinct to cling resolutely (or even desperately) to the old ways of belief... the sacred honor (duty) of war, heaven only through rigid belief, etc...

who would dare "write stuff," especially when at odds with all of the givens of proper living, building the god damn country, and winning the god damn war... shiftless, slacker boat-rockers ...

wow, the big ramble again. good one, steve...