Wednesday, June 17, 2015

poem of the day 06.17.15

this is a hallmark moment

it’s like something out of disney
this is a hallmark moment
that i’m getting down here
a little oasis from nutbags digging through trash
and every teenager thinking they’re a rap star
just a mother and child
playing a cutesy game of stepping on each other’s toes
and blowing kisses in each other’s face
this is nice, i think
america needs more of these moments
turning my head away to wait for the N train
i hear someone scream
it’s the mother
she’s bouncing on one foot while the kid laughs
she spits, you think it’s funny, you little fuck
grabs him by one arm like she’s lifting him to god
belts him a good one across the ass
so now he’s screaming too
that’s more like it, i think
more of what this city has to offer
still, i can’t help but wonder what would happen
if one of those PC parent brigades
from one of those idyllic towns and cities
were underground with us animals
those diligent voters who’d never hit a child
who think there’s a child molester around every corner
the ones working over-time
to sell their PTA partners down the river
for keeping their kids in the car ten minutes
while they buy anti-depressant meds
or, god forbid, let a kid walk alone to school
what would happen then if those cowards were down here?
i watch the mother
she’s still limping around the platform
screaming like someone stole her purse
rolling a list of expletives that’ll hang over this city
the whole maddeningly humid summer
while the child cowers in corner bawling
his little beach sand bucket overturned
she goes over the whack him again
but stops and picks up the bucket
says, my god, i can’t do this shit no more today
then gives her kid her phone to play with
just to shut him up.                                                      

No comments: