National Poetry Month: A Eulogy to Amuse the Penguins
Age is just a number. Life and aging are the best gifts we could ever have. ~ Cicely Tyson
So given it’s national poetry month I thought I would drop one of my poems. It’s about my grandfather, in his later years he lived near the convent my aunt lives at and took care of their gardens. He spent a lot of times with the nuns and they knew him very well. I’ve also included some links below to the work of some of my favorite poets. So enjoy my friends and I hope you are having a happy day. ~ Rev Kane
A Eulogy to amuse the penguins 2006
People don’t want the truth
particularly not when death is at hand
they don’t want to know a life
can’t stand to see the warts
they want disneyanna
where at the end of the day we gather
and have a parade down main street America
My grandfather was a man
a hard man
a cold man
but he mellowed with age
hard jagged lines on his face
fading soft with his laughter
eyes lit as he talked about back in the day
He died in 2000 and I was asked to do the eulogy
wanting to speak his life warts and all
but my sister ratted me out
ratted me out to my aunt the nun
I suffered through the speeches
sister, aunt, father oh my
to my shame I acquiesced
But I was on the hook my friends
had to stand up in front
relatives, family, friends, nuns
So I chose to pick a slice
grab a day in the life
and this is the one I chose
My grandfather loved tomatoes and roses
and in the neighborhood was a challenged boy
a boy of 32 with a dad in his 50’s
the boy had trampled grandpa’s plants and he was pissed
he had the opportunity to see the boy’s father
never given to silence, he spoke
of course grandpa spoke with his fists
like an 87 yr old warrior from the WWF
he came off the top step with a right cross
Grandpa went to scrappin in the street
he lost, hitting his head on the curb
I found my way to the hospital the next day
and asked him what happened
he said that guy had a roll of nickels in his hand
yeah grandpa, he was waitin for you
then he grew stone faced and paused
looking at me seriously, he said
I hit that guy in the gut with everything I had
and he didn’t go down, I might be getting old
and I laughed at the coolest thing I’ve ever heard
that day,
my 87 year old grandfather
just started to consider that he might be getting old.
People in the church smiled,
but the penguins rolled in the aisles,
because they knew him best
Other poetry posts
Pablo Neruda
The Ministry of Happiness 