pull that wire | Teen Ink

pull that wire MAG

May 19, 2009
By LilBenj SILVER, Richfield, Utah
LilBenj SILVER, Richfield, Utah
6 articles 4 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow. - Hamlet


pull that wire
real hard
(kh-kh-khkhvarrooooom)
rumble around the yard
with a mower
nearly as tall
as I am

a monster
a hungry, angry monster
eating grass
pine cones
sound

zen
that's what my dad
(crazy, I think)
calls it.
relaxing –
to walk 'round the yard
like a carriage ride

but it's a battle

that cat,
he wouldn't purr
(ccrghh-rccrghr-ghrcgh)
if I pet him that way

my dad becomes a cat charmer
and that cat looks dead as a dead cat
but happy
and making happy sounds

he can talk
(my dad, not the cat)
and make you think
(prob'ly why he's my dad,
not someone else's)

like a trans
cend
entalist
think'n'

about nature and calm
and a good world
and democracy,
o' course

dad takes the detour
the lllooonngggest detour
to get to
nowhere

it's better that way
smellin' the air and
wind and trees

makes me thinks he's crazy,
the way he drives on roads
nowhere
wherever they go.

and then we stop the
car and
get out
he looks all peaceful
and i feel
what he feels

wind wrapping you
up
all loose
and the sunset
brushing my cheeks

look at those clouds,
he says.
i do.

start talking
can't stop
too much to talk
about

dad tells me about
time
and people
places
history
things that matter

then he talks
poetry in the river of
air over my head

and then he talks
debates of the day
and who he likes
and who
he doesn't

and I think the same way
because
it just makes sense

and sometimes,
it just doesn't

he's my dad,
but he's not
me.

maybe later,
when the cat is dead,
maybe I'll be the one talking
to dad
and he'll say
how do you mow that
lawn so good?

(but actually,
he'd never say that
because that's bad
english)

and he'll say
sure wish I could see that sunset

and he'll say
hon, who's winning the
election?
i forgot.

and I'll tell him.
because that's somethin'
you just need to know.

and maybe then I'll read him
some walt whitman
about the leaves
of grass
growing
over
us.

it sure will be sad
when he
won't be able to

pull that wire


The author's comments:
A Poem about my Dad.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 6 comments.


on May. 8 2010 at 9:35 pm
Solnyshko SILVER, Richfield, Utah
9 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Logic and knowledge are not enough."- Spock

Probably one of my favorite poems of all time...

LilBenj SILVER said...
on Dec. 14 2009 at 12:50 am
LilBenj SILVER, Richfield, Utah
6 articles 4 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow. - Hamlet

Hey, Thanks Jaquie. I'm glad you like it.

Jaquie BRONZE said...
on Dec. 13 2009 at 3:47 pm
Jaquie BRONZE, West Palm Beach, Florida
3 articles 0 photos 407 comments

Favorite Quote:
This is certainly one of my favorites: "I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes." -2 Samuel 6:22

I love this. I can't say why or what draws me to it but its amazing! Really, truly, wonderful job! There are so many people in this world trying to critique poetry and change it so that now we've lost sight of what it really is. But I think I found it again in your piece. Perhaps its the way that you so nonchalantly use the lower case words and questionable grammar that makes me want to read this over and over again then run through the streets sharing it with everyone I know. Incredible. Great job.

God bless,

...,

shelberlynn said...
on Dec. 4 2009 at 7:39 pm
shelberlynn, Bristoville, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments
That was really good. And believe me, I just don't say that about anything. I love the way you describe your rel,ationship with your dad. You are so lucky! I like the way you used "common" english - if you catch my drift. Keep writing. You're good!

LilBenj SILVER said...
on Dec. 3 2009 at 10:35 pm
LilBenj SILVER, Richfield, Utah
6 articles 4 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow. - Hamlet

Cute? I guess...

on Dec. 2 2009 at 11:17 pm
whisperingofdawn GOLD, Colorado City, Arizona
17 articles 12 photos 87 comments
aww, that's cute. nice rhythm!