LET’S BE SILLY.
An old raggedy gritty day
like today
don’t deserve no power
not even if I see you all bundled up
hunched over
sneakin’ a peek round the door
past the corner of your eye
lookin’ for that last Horseman,
the one with the scythe,
and you castin’ for one good charm
one extra-strong curse
that’ll do the trick.
I know you.
Don’t bother―
not needed.
Instead
Let’s thumb our noses
twaddle them in our ears
defy the gray, the sullen day
spit in its eye
stamp on the sidewalk’s lines
and dare the bears.
Let’s watch wrestlers on tv
and bet on the yellow tights
let’s play hearts―
the one who cheats the most
wins.
Let’s shout mysterious words
we just made up,
and laugh.
Today’s a day for tickles
nickels
pickles
wishes
fishes
romolo
romolo
rumph.
SURPRISE!
You gonna be just fine.
Susan Meehan formerly served as the District of Columbia’s only Patient Advocate for all persons in substance abuse treatment; one of her most successful poetry readings was to 300 HIV-positive drug addicts and their families. She now devotes herself to politics and poetry. (The two combined when she was asked to write and read an inaugural poem for Marion Barry’s second term as mayor!) She and her husband have made three trips to Ireland, the first to focus on traditional music in Clare, the second to serve as peace monitors in Belfast during the summer of the 1998 Peace Accord and the murder of three little boys in a mixed Catholic-Protestant family, and the third this summer to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with their grown children.
