Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Rough and Tumble (For Joe Cohen)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2017-12-19T07_41_19-08_00

We were in the same homeroom all through junior high and high school.
He was one of the popular kids. Me, I knew all of the popular kids, but I didn’t fit in anywhere. Not even with the other outcasts.
Joe had this way about him that always made you feel good about yourself and I believe that’s because he accepts people for who they are no ifs, ands or buts.

When I see him at the reunions I always feel like I’m meeting the Godfather of Mayfield Heights or wherever it is he resides because he carries himself with such an unmistakable confidence you know messing with him would be a big mistake.
I was surprised when he told me he reads my poetry that I post on FB, but that just goes to show you, you never know whose paying attention and what interests they may hold.
Going to watch another episode of The Walking Dead and try and get it out of my head that I may soon be on the street like an overzealous zombie or disabused Democrat.

The wind is breaking and there’s a good chance it will never get put back together again. Not if the deregulation continues and the climate deniers refuse to see the inconvenient truth through the burning trees.
Some people are probably wondering if this poem is about Joe Cohen, me or our screwed up politics that has us under siege and my answer is simply that this poem is about everything and nothing.
It’s about laying down a gauntlet or drawing a line in the sand or whatever metaphor makes sense to you as Joe and I catch up over lunch and for at least an hour or so I feel safe and like no one can touch me because Mr. Cohen has my back.

Charles Cicirella
12/19/17

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