7 quick poems to previous versions of gareth
i. Dear gareth, Age 4 Arranging Paper Words On Gran & Grandad’s Dining Room Floor
Not got much to say to you, buddy.
You seem to be doing ok, so far as I can see.
ii. Dear gareth, Age 12 About To Read “Lord Of The Rings” For The First Time
It’s a Friday after school.
You’ve just stumbled across
A cool looking book.
The Fellowship of the Ring.
The first of three.
Do yourself a favour.
Get books II & III too.
Then you won’t have to wait
Till Monday to find out
What happens to the all the little hobbitses.
iii. Dear gareth, Age 22 Before She’s Actually Walking Out the Door
For god’s sake you fucking great fool.
Try harder.
You’ll always regret you didn’t.
iv. Dear gareth, Age 23 Making Love In The Thunderstorm By The Ressie
While you’re having a good time
can I ask you to pay a bit more attention
cos while you might think you’ll remember
how it felt, I can assure you a quarter century on
You won’t.
v. Dear gareth, Age 22-44
Deal with your grief sooner.
It makes life easier.
& you might have avoided the black hole of 39.
vi. Dear gareth, Age 39
I know. I remember.
Strive for peace.
vii. Dear gareth, Age Right Now
I really suggest ending this poem
& going to the loo to pee.
Advice to former incarnations is one thing
But listening to your bladder
is the profoundest thing I’ve got left to say going forward.
This was wonderful ~ a witty but poignant chronology. Deserves a larger audience!
Thank you. Generally my first reaction to a prompt is URRRRGGGHHH! How could I possibly … but then an idea comes, & possibly another … & you find yourself being surprised. & pleased.
(I’ve just read some of yours BTW. Heading there to comment now)
It’s fun to “watch” you grow up in this, and I sighed a bit at 22 – 24. 39’s message was a bit of validation with the simple “I remember.” Good advice. Then I couldn’t help but laugh at the end. Maybe that’s the secret after all. . . .