My grand daddy chewed his food so slowly
that everyone at the table fell asleep
waiting for him to finish
A lone lima bean slipped his lips
and dropped to the floor
providing some diversion for me
when I was three
I was good at entertaining myself
playing both sides of the chess board
with an uncanny insight
into the mind of my opponent
while my Uncle Viggo recited
off-color limericks into his
tape recorder when he was drunk
enriching my early vocabulary in ways
the boys at school thought was cool
Upstairs in my bed
I'd lie awake at night
my little radio pulling in the booming signal
from south of the border
Wolfman Jack gave me an appreciation
for rhythm and blues
and the revelation that being crazy
would be my ticket out of that lonely farmhouse
Biding my time
Playing Chuck Berry 45s on my lo-fi
and anyway I'm almost grown
A world of glory and heartache looming
that even my fanciful imagination
didn't see coming
"...with an uncanny insight
ReplyDeleteinto the mind of my opponent" - these lines made me laugh out loud.
Another wonderfully written poem, Tim. I'm glad you're almost grown, but don't get all grown cuz it's not as fun :)
Yay for Uncle Viggo!
ReplyDeleteWow this is fabulous Timoteo, absolutely fabulous, sorry for the pain
ReplyDeleteTALON,
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about that--I'm already in my second childhood! LOL
KOBICO,
I have a feeling you would have liked the guy!
LORRAINE,
Thank you my sweet--it all goes with the territory. :)
This actually made me feel sad as I sensed an aching loneliness from days past.
ReplyDeleteBe young at heart for as long as you can. Growing up is overrated IMHO.
Timoteo,
ReplyDelete__I like this... sort of a partial inventory of any young person's thoughts and dreams; never did we realllllly precieve what was lain ahead of us. _m
like reading over an old diary...
ReplyDeleteGYPSY,
ReplyDeleteI think what I got in touch with for this one was the feeling of getting ready to burst out, or burst upon the scene as it were--ready to "come into my own." :)
DOUG,
So true!
TERI,
I don't know if anybody caught the word play here--the title of the poem is the same as an old Chuck Berry hit, "Almost Grown," which was one that I liked a lot and played over and over
on my "lo-fi." :)
If we could have foreseen then what we know now, would we have been cheered or saddened about where the road would take us? It seems that your answer is that it was far more complex than we ever would have imagined. True for me as well, with less glory, as much heartache (though somewhat different than expected) and, thankfully, more happiness over all.
ReplyDeletethis is both whimsical and a bit sad, I doubt any of us will ever be entirely grown, at least, I'll doubt I'll ever be, I think a being a bit childish is part of being human or is that being human is part of being childish?
ReplyDeleteGYPSY,
ReplyDeleteI think what I was getting in touch with was a sense of getting ready to "come into my own." The title of the poem is word play on an old Chuck Berry hit called "Almost Grown," which I liked a lot and played over and over on my "lo-fi."
Doug,
So right you are.
TERI,
Now, it's an open book.
ARLENE,
I'm not sure if I would have been cheered or saddened...I think I would have just said, SHEEEIITTT!
LISSA,
The child is father to the man. I guess that means that most men are childish! Works for me.