I understand the man, and I understand the poem. (I save things and my wife
throws them out - somewhat quickly for my taste.) If I complain, I may be
next ...
2009/10/7 Angel Marquez <[log in to unmask]>
> at least she waited it out.
> stacking and labeling resonated well with the tone of voice the key phrase
> conjured.
>
> the red ribbon and bow are killer.
>
> On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Judy Prince
> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
> > HIS BEST SHIRT
> > Jurgen's spleen rejected waste
> > the sort that his children and otherwise
> > frugal wife quietly ordered online
> >
> > these substitutions for chronically ill
> > but working computer towers, keyboards
> > mouses, printers, cellphones, refrigerators
> > mattresses, and eyeglasses
> >
> > insulted Jurgen who mantra'ed aloud
> > "If it ain't dead, don't replace it," whilst
> > Kelsey and Jane and Frances unboxed
> > sleek grey metal electronic cubes and cords
> >
> > and Jurgen refused to sleep on any sheets
> > younger than his daughters, could be depended
> > upon for pieces of string
> > as well as both local newspapers
> > dating from the day they'd bought their home
> > all which he carried to Dad's Room in the basement
> > and gently stacked and labeled
> >
> > this living library of his life which his daughters
> > [to themselves] called Dad's Mausoleum showed
> > family and friends that which made him proud--
> > his singular focus, healthy philosophy
> > gentle triumph, his reassuring insistence
> > on a conflated pragmatic aesthetic
> >
> > Discourageless, K, J and F put a shirt box
> > beside his plate of birthday cake on 2 October
> > their candle-blowing puckers especially energetic;
> > Frances handed him his eyeglasses
> > held together with paper clips, and he read
> > their accompanying card assuring him
> > it'd been 30 years since they'd first
> > given him this white Oxford cloth button-down shirt
> > so he could wear it now
> >
> > "But I already have white shirts I haven't worn;
> > therefore we can keep this one for perhaps Christmas
> > dinner with your cousins," Jurgen smiled with
> > his happy solution, adding the red ribbon and bow
> > to his careful collections
> >
> > at his funeral in November his wife
> > remarked to her lover as they appraised
> > the coffin'ed Jurgen in his splendid new shirt:
> > "If it ain't broke, don't replace it."
> >
> > -------------------------------
> > jbprince
> >
>
--
Andrew
'Beyond City Limits', pub. ICLL @ ECU, available at topnotch indie bookshops
- list at http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
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